Please give me a short list of all the 1500m speciaists, who did not have enough endurance to compete at 1 mile.
All I’m saying is the 1500 is more accessible to an 800 runner than the mile
Not wrong, but he is not a Sumner/Flatt 400-800 type running 5mpw. He does aerobic stuff alongside speed work. He’ll be absolutely fine in a 1500/mile, no concerns. Just a question of how fast.
i have no reason to believe cooper would be a much better miler than bryce hoppel, who is an awful miler
Well on the flip side any reason to believe he’d be worse and not better? Hoppel is more exceptionally bad at 3:39. Brandon Miller, Josh Hoey, Brazier, heck Isaiah Harris has a 3:37 PB.
i have no reason to believe cooper would be a much better miler than bryce hoppel, who is an awful miler
One major reason to believe Cooper would be a much better miler than Bryce Hoppel is the simple fact he ran a 4:06 mile in 10th grade last year with little to no focus on the event. He has 2 years to think about approaching the 1500 if he wants to and he'll be 19. In 2032, he'll only be 23 and in the beginning of his athletic prime. A lot can happen between now and then. Clearly he already has the speed to be a world class 1500 runner. Still, at his age it's more important to develop as much speed as he can while he's continuing to grow and mature physically, especially since he operates naturally in that 400/800 zone right now. He could be another Alberto Juantoreana, or he could be another Steve Ovett too, who also had pretty decent speed in his teenage years (though Cooper is scarily faster than he was). I'm gonna wait 4 or 5 years and let him truly develop some proper world class aerobic strength before I absolutely nail him down as a pure 400/800 or 800/1500 guy. We just don't know yet, but he does have all the raw tools to be one of the best milers in the world someday (if he actually cares to want that anytime soon).
This post was edited 6 minutes after it was posted.
You could be right about him being more of a 400/800 athlete. His father was a mid-d runner in college at Univ. of North Texas and his mother ran on a Texas state qualifying 4x400 in high school.
And now, his mother is the new principal of his high school!
Whoever breaks 326 or 325 first will probably be someone with 141 speed and a fast 400 as well. A freak talent. Cooper looks like he could be that guy but I would still think 800 is his best event now. He will and should probably focus on 800 for next two Olympic cycles but he will probably get curious and try out 1500. We will see in if he has it in the 1500m. Just sit back and enjoy the ride no one would have predicted 142 a year ago so saying he will run 324 is a fine prediction for me.
Whoever breaks 326 or 325 first will probably be someone with 141 speed and a fast 400 as well. A freak talent. Cooper looks like he could be that guy but I would still think 800 is his best event now. He will and should probably focus on 800 for next two Olympic cycles but he will probably get curious and try out 1500. We will see in if he has it in the 1500m. Just sit back and enjoy the ride no one would have predicted 142 a year ago so saying he will run 324 is a fine prediction for me.
Not. A. Chance.
You're disrespecting how big the jump from 800 to 1500 is.
The all-time 1500m list is not full of a bunch of 800m guys. Look at the top 20 (chose that so we can include Sir Mo). It's full of guys who competed or won 3k/5k/10k WC/OG golds. Or set 2 mile or 3k world records. Or who are 1500m specialist with a few VERY good, but not great, 800m time to their name (i.e. Mahk Daddy, Ngeny).
Just like the all-time 600m list indoors is not full of a bunch of 400m runners. When Hoey set the 600i record earlier this year, everyone was like "oh it's bc his speed is better that Brazier, Hoppel, etc". No it's not. If superior speed mattered, it would have been broken by some 44s 400i guy. It was set by Hoey because he is as fast as those 800m guys in terms of raw speed, AND he dogwalked Brazier & Hoppel last summer running a 3:29 1500m AND in early in 2026 in Hawaii at that road mile. Superior endurance led to the record.
Its not the speed that kills morans, it's the strength. Suggesting he can just "try it out" and run 3:24 is ridiculous & ignoring all the data. Zero data to suggest he has that endurance capacity that the current top 20 1500m guys have.
He doesn’t have to change his genetics. At the same age, he ran as fast as Webb and faster than Jim Ryun did in the mile in an off event - also Olympic Champs Centro & Hocker.
All while focusing on the 400/800 - and in his first attempt. Sounds like he is pretty great genetics to me.
Also remember he ran a 9:20-low 3200m before his sophomore year. With 25 last 200m so he had plenty left in the tank.
I wonder how deep he is into training. Did he train and run competitively all through middle school? Not sure how much of a difference that makes, but I feel like no matter how talented you are, I don’t think someone runs 1:42 after sophomore year after just two years of high school running.
This info is probably pretty easy to find, just don’t feel like searching for it
Whoever breaks 326 or 325 first will probably be someone with 141 speed and a fast 400 as well. A freak talent. Cooper looks like he could be that guy but I would still think 800 is his best event now. He will and should probably focus on 800 for next two Olympic cycles but he will probably get curious and try out 1500. We will see in if he has it in the 1500m. Just sit back and enjoy the ride no one would have predicted 142 a year ago so saying he will run 324 is a fine prediction for me.
Not. A. Chance.
You're disrespecting how big the jump from 800 to 1500 is.
The all-time 1500m list is not full of a bunch of 800m guys. Look at the top 20 (chose that so we can include Sir Mo). It's full of guys who competed or won 3k/5k/10k WC/OG golds. Or set 2 mile or 3k world records. Or who are 1500m specialist with a few VERY good, but not great, 800m time to their name (i.e. Mahk Daddy, Ngeny).
Just like the all-time 600m list indoors is not full of a bunch of 400m runners. When Hoey set the 600i record earlier this year, everyone was like "oh it's bc his speed is better that Brazier, Hoppel, etc". No it's not. If superior speed mattered, it would have been broken by some 44s 400i guy. It was set by Hoey because he is as fast as those 800m guys in terms of raw speed, AND he dogwalked Brazier & Hoppel last summer running a 3:29 1500m AND in early in 2026 in Hawaii at that road mile. Superior endurance led to the record.
Its not the speed that kills morans, it's the strength. Suggesting he can just "try it out" and run 3:24 is ridiculous & ignoring all the data. Zero data to suggest he has that endurance capacity that the current top 20 1500m guys have.
I think Cooper is faster, possibly significantly faster, than Hoey at 400m. And I have to reason to think he can’t run at least as fast Hoey in the 1500m, eventually.
I know, I know…never ending talk about potential for superstars in adjacent distances. But it’s always fun to speculate and discus.
”I don’t think a 1:46 takes too much out of me right now” was his direct quote after the first round of the 800. His coach Chris Capeau (spelling) said he thinks he was in high 44 shape, during his talk with j Gault and rojo in the reaction show after the race.
1500 world record pace is 55 pace (after 41 opening 300) aka 1:50 800 pace. I know we’re thinking of him as more of a 4/8 guy but come on…get this 1:42 low kid who’s growing by the day, put him in a paced 1500 and who knows what will happen. I don’t even know if he has any 16/15 marks from high school.
Regardless, should be fun to watch him the rest of the year.
I would bet $100,000.00 guaranteed and put it against everything including the OPs marital vows that he runs between 3:25 and 5:25 for a 1,500m!
He could run 44.8 lifetime if trains for it or 3:30 if he trains for it. But 1:40.5 is better.
He would be well under 46 seconds, as he's clearly stronger/faster than last year at this time and last year he went 46.3 in the second race of a double. In fact, in today's letsrun article, his coach (who is a straight shooter) says that he thinks that Cooper can currently run 44 high.
Maybe not ... but at least mid 45s.
We will find out this summer, as he surely will run an open 400 or two.
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
No, he can’t specialize in whatever he wants. Either he’s 400/800m, or he’s not. Specific training won’t change genetics. Based on the WA points table, 1:42.2 is equivalent to 3:45.5, so 4:00 is not otherworldly in comparison.
He doesn’t have to change his genetics. At the same age, he ran as fast as Webb and faster than Jim Ryun did in the mile in an off event - also Olympic Champs Centro & Hocker.
All while focusing on the 400/800 - and in his first attempt. Sounds like he is pretty great genetics to me.
Also remember he ran a 9:20-low 3200m before his sophomore year. With 25 last 200m so he had plenty left in the tank.
Ryun had only been running for 9 months when he ran his best soph mile. Not a good comparison actually. With anyone. Better comparison will be comparing both at 18, but not perfect as Ryun’s training and volume were horrible to be honest. He was basically ruined before he turned 21. So far Coop’s coach has been handling things great.
Let's wait on him to break 46 or 4:00 first before we declare him anything other than an 800 specialist. His coach's comments seem to hint that he's better at the 400 then the 1500/mile but long term his endurance should catch up
He's been a 400/800 runner since the beginning of his running career. 1:53/48.7 as an 8th grader
All I’m saying is the 1500 is more accessible to an 800 runner than the mile
Not wrong, but he is not a Sumner/Flatt 400-800 type running 5mpw. He does aerobic stuff alongside speed work. He’ll be absolutely fine in a 1500/mile, no concerns. Just a question of how fast.
Take that 5mpw stuff with a grain of salt, especially to run under 1:46. Flatt has been hurt and out of it for years and Sumner is no Juantorena.
I would like him to aim for the HS mile record if anything in the next two years. Even if they won't officially list him as the record holder it would be cool to see him break Alan Webbs record.
He doesn’t have to change his genetics. At the same age, he ran as fast as Webb and faster than Jim Ryun did in the mile in an off event - also Olympic Champs Centro & Hocker.
All while focusing on the 400/800 - and in his first attempt. Sounds like he is pretty great genetics to me.
Also remember he ran a 9:20-low 3200m before his sophomore year. With 25 last 200m so he had plenty left in the tank.
I wonder how deep he is into training. Did he train and run competitively all through middle school? Not sure how much of a difference that makes, but I feel like no matter how talented you are, I don’t think someone runs 1:42 after sophomore year after just two years of high school running.
This info is probably pretty easy to find, just don’t feel like searching for it
He started running 7th grade with a 2:11, then ran 1:53 solo in 8th grade.
No, he can’t specialize in whatever he wants. Either he’s 400/800m, or he’s not. Specific training won’t change genetics. Based on the WA points table, 1:42.2 is equivalent to 3:45.5, so 4:00 is not otherworldly in comparison.
I agree on the genetics aspect, but I also think people sometimes underestimate how much shorter a 1500 is than a 1609.
The mile is a slightly slower pace than the 1500m so same thing.
