Cole Hocker Wins Unexpected Men's 1500m Olympic Title in Paris

On the sixth day of athletics at the Paris Olympics, the spotlight was on the highly anticipated men's 1500m final, featuring a duel between Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and reigning world champion Josh Kerr. The buildup to this clash had been heating up on social media for months, setting the stage for what many expected to be a historic race. Despite the hype surrounding these two athletes, neither claimed the title.

Instead, American Cole Hocker emerged as the surprise winner of the men's 1500m, setting a new Olympic games record with a time of 3:27.65.

The race unfolded dramatically as the defending champion, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, took the lead right from the start, setting a blistering pace with an opening lap of 54.9 seconds, nearing world record speeds. He was closely tailed by Timothy Cheruiyot, the former world champion, Josh Kerr, and Americans Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker.

Ingebrigtsen continued to push the limits, passing the 800m mark in an astonishing 1:51.5. By the 1200m mark, Ingebrigtsen had only a 3-meter lead over the pursuing pack as he clocked 2:47.3. Cheruiyot, Kerr, and both Americans began closing the gap, with less than 200m remaining, setting the stage for a thrilling finish.

In the final 80 meters, Ingebrigtsen started to lose his lead as Kerr and Hocker battled for supremacy. Ultimately, it was Hocker who surged ahead, breaking the tape first and setting a new Olympic record, with Kerr securing second place. Meanwhile, Yared Nuguse clinched the bronze medal in a captivating conclusion to the race.

Hocker became the fourth US athlete to win the the Olympic 1500m gold medal. 

Cole Hocker: “With 100 metres to go, I knew I had enough. I have not seen the race replay or anything, but I saw Jakob, I feel like he was thinking about Kerr and started drifting out, and I thought I had to take advantage of that and try to punch inside, which I have been able to do a couple of times in my career. I was staying relaxed and with 150 metres to go I have never heard a crowd like that. At that point I really didn’t feel anything and I just went. It felt like another race in terms of kicking by people. I have done it. I feel like, countless times in my career so far. This time it just happened to be against the Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen and the world champion Josh Kerr”. 

Josh Kerr: “It’s the fastest I have ever run. It’s the best 1500m performance I could ever ask for, a British record and a PB”. 

MEN'S 1500M FINAL RESULTS:

Women's 200m Final:

Gabby Thomas won her first individual gold medal in the women’s 200 metres in 21.83 three years after finishing third in Tokyo. 

Julien Alfred, Olympic gold medallist in the 100 metres, claimed the silver medal in 22.08. Brittany Brown was awarded with the bronze medal with 22.20 ahead of British sprinters Dina Asher Smith (22.22), Daryll Neita (22.23) and Nigeria’s Favour Ofili (22.24). 

Thomas came off the bend level with Alfred and Asher Smith, but she pulled clear in the home straight to take the win by a couple of metres. 

Gabby Thomas: “I am really in disbelief because having an Olympic gold medal is something in my wildest dreams, but at the same time I know how hard I have fought for it. When I walked out in this stadium and I knew I had all my friends and my family here, I just knew I had it. I had a confidence that you cannot describe. Of course there was pressure, but I felt confident”. 

Men’s long jump Final: 

World,  Olympic and European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou won his second consecutive Olympic medal with 8.48m in the second round becoming the first long jumper since Carl Lewis in 1996 to win back-to-back Olympic titles. Tentoglou produced a solid series that included jumps of 8.27m, 8.24m, 8.36m and 8.31m. 

Miltiadis Tentoglou: “It’s a great achievement. I am very happy, but very tired. My distance was not good, not good. I have a personal reason that I wanted to jump 8.75m. Today it was impossible to jump so far. It was not the best conditions, the wind was so difficult at times”. 

Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock won the silver medal with 8.36m one year after finishing second at the World Championships in Budapest, when he jumped 8.52m. Pinnock followed in the footsteps of his compatriot James Beckford, who won the Olympic silver medal in Atlanta 1996. 

Mattia Furlani clinched the Olympic bronze medal with 8.34m reaching the podium for the third time following his two silver medals at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow with 8.22m and at the European Championships in Rome with a world under 20 record of 8.38m. Furlani has become the first Italian athlete to win a long jump medal at the Olympic Games since Giovanni Evangelisti in Los Angeles 1984. Furlani repeated the same mark of 8.34m in the fifth round and produced two more jumps of 8.27m and 8.25m. 

Mattia Furlani: “It’s an incredible result. I believed that I could win a medal until the end. It was one of my best competitions. I am happy that I managed to achieve a consistent series. I had not jumped so well since the indoor season. It was an unbelievable week. Last year I did not reach the final at the World Championships in Budapest and I have now won this medal. It is important to be patient with young athletes and wait the right moment”

Furlani jumped 8.34m in the first round, just 4 cm off the world under 20 record he set when he won the European silver medal in Rome. Tentoglou responded with 8.27m in his opening round. 

Furlani leapt to 8.25m in the second round, but Tentoglou moved into the lead with 8.34m. The Greek athlete did better only once this season when he won the European silver in Rome with his PB of 8.65m. Pinnock went into silver medal position with 8.36m in the second round. Tentoglou followed with 8.24m, 8.34m and 8.31m in a very consistent series. Pinnock jumped three more times over the 8 metres barrier. Furlani had two fouls that matched his bronze medal mark and ended the competition with 8.27m. 

World indoor heptathlon champion Simon Ehammer leapt to 8.20m in his second attempt to finish fourth. Jacob Fincham Dukes took fifth place with 8.14m. 

Women’s 3000 metres steeplechase Final: 

Winfred Yavi from Barhein won the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase gold medal with an Olympic record of 8:52.76. Defending Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai from Uganda claimed the Olympic silver medal in a national record of 8:53.34. Faith Cherotich came through to win the bronze medal in 8:55.15. The race started at a very fast pace. World record holder Beatrice Chepkoech led the field through the 1000 metres in 2:55. Six women covered the next km split in 3:02. Chemutai launched her sprint on the final lap, but she could not shake off the challenge of Yavi, who kicked with 100 metres to go to win the gold medal one year after claiming the world title in Budapest. 

Winfred Yavi: “This is a dream come true. It has been such a hard journey to get to this point. In the final I was expecting something good. I just felt good about the race. I believed in myself, that I had that finishing speed”

Women’s hammer throw Final: 

World champion Camryn Rogers added the Olympic title to her collection with a throw of 76.97m in the fifth round. Rogers overtook early leader Annette Echinwoke from the USA, who threw 75.48m. Zhao Jie from China took third place with 74.27m. Three-time Olympic champion Anita Wlodarczyk from Poland finished fourth in his final appearance at the Olympic Games. 

Men’s 400 metres semifinals: 

This year’s US Olympic Trials champion Quincy Hall won the first seminal in 43”95 dipping under the 44 barrier for the second time this season. Jereem Richards from Trinidad and Tobago secured the second automatic qualifying spot with 44.39 beating Busang Kebinatshipi from Botswana (44.43 PB). 

Kirani James, Olympic champion in London 2012, broke under the 44 seconds to win the second heat in 43.79.  Muzala Samukonga from Zambia improved his national record to 43.81. 

European record holder Matthew Hudson Smith claimed the win in the third semifinal in 44.07 ahead of 2022 world champion Michael Norman(44.26). 

Women’s 400 metres hurdles semifinal: 

Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin Levrone cruised to an easy win in the second heat in 52.13. Louise Maraval from France advanced to the final in second place in 53.83. 

Femke Bol easily won the third semifinal with 52.56. 

World bronze medallist Rushell Clayton took the win in the first 400 metres hurdles semifinal in 53.00. Jasmine Jones, who won the NCAA title and finished third at the US Trials, secured the second automatic qualifying spot with 53.83. Zeney Geldhenyus improved her PB to 53.90. 

Women’s long jump qualifying round: 

World silver medallist Tara Davis Woodhall achieved the best mark of 6.90m in the women’s long jump qualifying round. 

European silver medallist Larissa Iapichino leapt to 6.87m in the second round after an opening round jump of 6.60m to reach her first Olympic final.  

Reigning Olympic and European champion Malaika Mihambo needed all three attempts to advance to the women’s long jump on Thursday. 

Mihambo sailed out to 6.86m in the third attempt after two fouls. The German jumper gave away 30.8 centimetres on the take-off board. 

Olympic bronze medallist Ese Brume from Nigeria jumped beyond the qualifying mark with 6.76m. 

The other athletes to qualify were world bronze medallist Alina Rotaru Kottmann from Romania (6.63m) and Hillary Kpatcha from France, who was the 12th qualifier with 6.59m. 

World champion Ivana Spanovic, who has been struggling with an Achilles tendon this year, did not advance to the final despite her seasonal best of 6.51m. 

Men’s javelin throw qualifying round: 

Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra from India needed just one throw to advance to the men’s javelin throw final.  Chopra set the  second best ever qualifying mark with 89.34m, missing his PB by 60 cm. Only Czech legend Jan Zelezny threw further in a qualifying round in Olympic history with 89.39m in Sydney 2000. 

Two-time world champion Anderson Peeters from Grenada threw beyond the 88 metres mark with 88.36m. Julian Weber from Germany also surpassed the automatic qualifying mark of 84 metres with his first-round throw of 87.76m. 

World silver medallist Arshad Nadeem produced the fourth best throw of the morning session with 86.59m. 

Brazil’s Luiz Da Silva set a South American record of 85.91m to advance to the final. 

Reigning European champion Jakub Vadlejch also advanced to the final with 85.63m. 

Kenya’s Julius Yego, world champion in Beijing 2015, bettered the automatic qualifying mark by 97cm with 85.97m. 

The other athletes who progressed to the final are Finnish trio formed by Tori Keranen (85.27m), Oliver Helander (83.81m) and Lassi Etelatalo (82.91m) and Moldova’s Andrian Mardare (84.13m). 

Women’s 1500 metres heats: 

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay won the first 1500m heat setting the fastest ever heat time in Olympic history with 3:58.84. Laura Muir finished second with 3:58.91. 

Clara Mageean from Ireland withdrew from the heats due to an Achilles tendon injury. 

Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji won her heat in 3:59.73. World record holder Faith Kipyegon finished third in 4:00.74. 

Men’s 110 metres hurdles repechage round: 

Freddie Crittenden won the first 110 metres hurdles repechage round with 13.42 one day after suffering from a muscle twinge in the heats. Asler Martinez took the second qualifying spot for tomorrow’s semifinals in 13.46. 

Women’s 400 metres repechage round: 

Kendall Ellis ran the fastest time in the women’s 400 metres repechage round with 50.44. Gabby Scott from Puerto Rico reached the semifinal with her win in the second heat in a national record of 50.52. Victoria Ohuuogu claimed the win in the third heat in 50.59. 

Men’s 200 metres repechage round: 

Ryan Zeze from France ran the fastest time  in the men’s 200 metres repechage round with 20.40. The other heat winners were Udodi Onwuzurike from Nigeria (20.51), Brendon Rodney from Canada (20.42) and Erik Erlandson (20.49).