We have seen from the prelims that the 1500 is a total crapshoot when you don’t have anyone like Yared or Jakob to push the pace, so the 1500 could go to many of the top guys (Lagos, Hocker, Kerr, R Cheruiyot, etc).
The 5K is a lot less random though, as shown by how consistently Jakob can win despite not being able to win the 1500. We now have a fresh and pissed off Hocker going into what we know will be a slow 5K in these conditions; he has a great chance of getting gold.
I actually met, talked to, and ran against “Alexi Santana” way back in 1988.
We'll see. If he medals (and I think he will), I'll be back. And if he doesn't, I'll still come back and concede your point.
From my perspective, the mistake you're making is that you are discounting the U.S. champs, which is the 2nd most competitive meet in the world in any given year, after Olympics/ World Champs. The top American athletes in many events consider Diamond League meets to be second tier, and not worth the toll on the body of all that travel. So, yeah, not too many Diamond League wins, but that really doesn't matter.
I, and I think a lot of others on letsrun would strongly disagree with this statement. Sprinting? Maybe, but it's still a hard sell when the they don't have to race against the Jamaicans or other Caribbean nations. Middle and long distance? No. Absolutely not. Having the top 2-3 Americans run against D1 kids definitely does not make the USATF's the second most competitive meet in the world each year. This is completely laughable, and this year's WC is proof so far with the 1500m and the 10000m wrapped up. The fastest races happen in Diamond League every single year. As an American myself, the hubris around American athletics is downright embarrassing.
Upvoted, because you precisely picked apart the weakest parts of my position and I appreciate that.
Hocker has raced 4 full professional outdoor seasons and only has 1 "big meet" medal. Outside of one single race in 2024, he has shown he can't beat the best in the world in the 1500m. One trick pony, and I'll bet the rail isn't the only thing he rides
We'll see. If he medals (and I think he will), I'll be back. And if he doesn't, I'll still come back and concede your point.
From my perspective, the mistake you're making is that you are discounting the U.S. champs, which is the 2nd most competitive meet in the world in any given year, after Olympics/ World Champs. The top American athletes in many events consider Diamond League meets to be second tier, and not worth the toll on the body of all that travel. So, yeah, not too many Diamond League wins, but that really doesn't matter.
Great to see Hocker win today. A previous poster pointed out that there was unwarranted USA-centric arrogance in my prior post..and that’s a fair critique, based on overall USA underperformance at this meet. But I stand my main point, which is that the top USA runners are not really that interested in the Diamond League meets—they’re inconvenient and not well timed in terms of building to a strong peak for US runners. Most of us fans from the USA could see that Hocker would be ready.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.