Cole Hocker will have a hard time beating Sam Ruthe

Thank you, Captain Obvious! And he had jetlag too. And he's run 1:45 in the 800. And his parents were talented runners. Do you think Sam might have a bright future? It's hard to know. I need your expert analysis and incredible foresight!

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I'm getting a real funny time with Ruthe fanboys.

For once I side with Cole in this debate.

Because a child didn't know his limits and has things to learn.

Has he confirmed that he’s running at USATF indoors?

The thing is Hocker will win because he only has to be the same speed/fitness as Sam and we know he's got that kick.

I'm putting Hocker at 80% versus the field FTW, with the only way he loses being a tactical mess-up like his 1,500 last year.

So Kejelcha’s indoor 3:47.01 was worth 3:45.01? Yet he could never even come close to running that fast. Ruthe is not in the same league as Hocker. He is a 16 year old prodigy, but he cannot run faster than 3:49 outdoors currently, although he probably will a year from now if he stays healthy.

Either could win, I favor Cole. The x-factor, it's a pretty big field for indoors, could get fraught! Opens the door to ohers.

If Hocker loses to a 16 year old, he will be stripped of his olympic medals.

Hey Kalinin lost yesterday and big time to an unknown Kazakh. I believe Sam will beat him and Armstronglivs will lose his sh!t at his fellow Aussie's victory.

I have a hunch that Cole is looking at bigger things in todays race like the WR.

If Hocker wins it proves nothing, but if he loses he's no longer competitive in the 1500/mile after 18 months of straight losses.

If Ruthe finishes less than two seconds behind Hocker, it will be a great race for him.

Hocker is 2 seconds fitter right now

I give Hocker an 80% chance of winning this race. While I do believe he’s the favorite, it also wouldn’t surprise me if Ruthe beat him. Ruthe’s hot right now, and when you’re having a season like he is where you’re constantly improving and defying your own expectations, it brings with it this feeling of almost being invincible; like you can’t do any wrong. I could totally see him using that momentum he’s been building this season to his advantage, and if he’s feeling good he may even defy yet another expectation and pull out a win on the Olympic champion.

Hocker is going to sit on him and win by ~0.2

No it's not. He ran his indoor 3.48 at the BU track, which is probably faster than most outdoor tracks. As usual, you're out of touch with the modern world.

Sometimes I wonder if the modern world has even reached the island of Australia and the litigious Kiwis like Armstrong who live there.

It's hard to tell. Army's a bit like those flat earthers vloggers who don't believe in NASA technology, yet they are using the most incredibly sophisticated modern technology to broadcast their nonsense.

Hocker wins by 3 seconds.

Hocker is a major outdoor championship guy. I don't think he has much to prove by winning this race.