Cole Hocker has a gravitas beyond his years

Cole has this race in the bag!! Going to pull a Wightman / Kerr on Nuguse!!

While technically not wrong, this is exactly the narrative that played out in 2021 ("he's just a 3:35 guy until he runs faster") and to absolutely no one's surprise he ran 3:31 the first chance he got.

None of the current talents of this generation (including Jakob) come close to the talent of the 80s generation, even by physical shape...

Coe, Aouita, Cram were mythes...

Downvote American while you can ... and good burrito lunch.

What was told is the truth.

This generation is a generation of programmed robots runners with zero personality.

And the antivaxxer, "clueless yet smug" approach

World class kick? 🤣🤣

Have you ever checked the last 4 or 800 when he's raced the big boys?

Sits off the back and still closes slower than those ahead of him.

I believe, after he was pulled to a 3:31 all of you yahoos started calling him a 3:28 guy.

He never became the 3:28 guy you claimed he was.

His time has improved exactly 0.70 seconds in the 2 years since Tokyo.

The last time he beat Nuguse was 2021, and Nuguse has beaten him 9 straight times in the interim.

Nuguse has no gravitas, therefore he cannot win. Kessler looks nervous a lot of time but I think he may, in time, develop ample gravitas. Discuss.

Reminds me of another not-so-charismatic red-headed athlete from my home state - Lilly King.

Cole may have gravitas, or he may be shy/introverted/weird/on the spectrum. I honestly don't know, but I've always thought that he came off as weird. I think he's learning to handle himself OK in interviews.

As for Goose, I think he is serious about his running. You don't train to improve as he has over the past three years without being serious. It just isn't his personality to bother putting on a game face. The easy going demeanor may well be a calculated tactic which, in itself, would suggest he is serious about the business of running.

Lot of haters leaving this thread devastated.

People forget that Cole SHOCKER is a winner. Dude is out there to COMPETE NO MORE GAMES

He's still not a sub 3:30 talent! Still not a sub 3:30 talent!

Only here can a 23-year-old win his second Olympic trials in a record 3.30 vs a 3:43 miler and still have people coming after him. Re likability— I saw Hocker talking with fans at Millrose and everyone looked pretty psyched to be hanging with him. In fact, a great portion of US track stars are friendly/likable — much more so than the *fans*.

And never will be.

Oh, good DL participation trophies and a couple of I finished higher than you in a world champs year Nuguse racked up. 9 straight wins that didn't lead to Paris? Yawn. Cole handled him in Eugene, the times that actually mattered. 2021 and 2024, back-to-back Olympic years.

the clock doesn't lie. they have the edge on speed but the current guys have the edge on strength.

Come back to this on August 6th.