SAINT-DENIS, France — Cole Hocker has never beaten Jakob Ingebrigtsen or Josh Kerr, the two favorites for the 1,500-meter gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
But it's the Olympics, Hocker stated. Anything can happen.
"I'm back in the Olympic final for the second time," the Cathedral High School graduate said. "I just have all the confidence in the world."
Hocker finished third in a semifinal Sunday night, qualifying for what will be a momentous final Tuesday at Stade de France.
All three medalists from Tokyo 2021 will be in the race – Ingebrigtsen, Timothy Cheruiyot, Kerr – along with Americans Yared Nuguse, Hocker and Hobbs Kessler. The three Americans all won medals at March’s World Indoor Championships.
Not since 1968 – with Jim Ryun, Tom Van Ruden, Marty Liquori – had the United States advanced three men into an Olympic 1,500-meter final.
Ingebrigtsen won the first semifinal in 3:32.38, followed by Kerr in 3:32.46 and Hocker in 3:32.54. Those times are equivalent to sub-3:50 for a mile, by the way.
“I think we can expect a smoking final,” NBC analyst Kara Goucher said. “The effortlessness with which those men just ran that. This is going to be a race for the ages.”
After a slow 61-second first lap, the semifinal pace accelerated. Hocker ran the last 800 meters in 1:48.7, the fastest such segment of either semifinal.
Hocker said he was relieved the race didn’t go down to a 100-meter dash.
“It just felt so comfortable,” Hocker said. “It’s just given me a good head space. Two years ago, even last year, 3:32, I would have felt it. I felt like I was staying on top of it today. Kind of just striding.”
Finishing behind Ingebrigtsen, of Norway, and Kerr, of Great Britain, means Hocker’s career record against both is 0-7.
The second semifinal was faster, with all six qualifiers under Ingebrigtsen’s time. Nuguse, of Notre Dame, and the 20-year-old Kessler went 1-2 in 3:31.72 and 3:31.97.
Hocker declined to speculate on what it will take to win a gold medal but expects a fast race. His personal best is four seconds slower than that of Ingebrigtsen, whose 3:26.73 in a July 12 race at Monaco was the fastest by anyone in nine years.
“I’m not limiting myself, either,” Hocker said. “Because I know I’m in a new realm of fitness.”
Hocker was sixth at Tokyo, under the previous Olympic record, and seventh in the 2023 World Championships at Budapest, Hungary. He won a silver medal at indoor worlds.
No Indiana runner in 120 years has won an Olympic medal at a distance longer than 400 meters. In 1904, Muncie’s Jim Lightbody won golds in the 800, 1,500 and steeplechase — although St. Louis was so poorly attended that American men won 67 of a possible 73 medals in track and field.
Contact WTHR correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.