Curried GOAT wrote:
Hocker is 12th in the 1500 DL standings, with the last Q race on Thursday in Zurich, and the DL final just over a week later in Brussels. I think they take 13 to the final, so Hocker needs a decent run to Q.
They take 10, but there's a global wild card that could be used for him or Kerr potentially. Alternatively, maybe Laros or Kessler (dubious with him doing a 5K XC tempo?) could get it. Adel Mechaal has ended his season so Hocker is in 11th in reality.
I'm a little unsure how loaded Zurich will be after the top 4 and probably Laros. I'd expect we have Giles, Hoare, Habz, Nader, Nillessen and so on. But all 3 Kenyans who are in good form are sitting pretty, and don't need to race if they want to train through. Gourley and Kessler I haven't seen talk about racing. So the field might be filled out with guys more in 3:31-3:34 range at this moment, which would make it pretty easy for Hocker to get into the top 10 with a top 5 finish even if he "only" runs 3:29-3:30 again.