Cole MF Hocker takes it to the WORLD CHAMP. Doubters, what do you say now?

FastTuohy wrote:

A medal from Hocker is a big ask unless 4-5 guys try to compete for gold and solver and and 2-3 die hard and he can pick them off late. I don't see him handling staying with a very fast pace.

Hocker might be the guy.

scrags wrote:

FastTuohy wrote:

Say what you want about the 3:33.8 but Hocker was a second faster than the rest of his heat over the final 300, and he did not look flat out.

You sure about that?

official splits:

Wightman - 1200m 2.54.6, 1500m 3.33.48

Hocker - 1200m 2.54.7, 1500m 3.33.87

My error - missed Wightman. But everyone else. Thanks for correction.

He’s an Oregon Duck! Oregon is the maker of milers!!

He only ran what he needed to run to make the final. That’s obvious, he ran a smokin last 300 and eased up over the final 5/10 meters. He can run faster. He’s ready to rip.

McSweyn can’t kick but can run sub 3.30. That reason alone is why it’ll be fast (he’ll obviously want to medal and the only way that will happen is if he goes from the gun).

Similar reasoning for Tim and Jakob. They’re not going to go slow to let someone like Hocker win at the end.

Jakob was interviewed after the semis and he said the final wont be a tactical slow race. Going off that it sounds like he's going to front run and push it from gun to tape. He's capable of sub 3:28 so will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Spraw wrote:

shtfatamericanssay wrote:

Only fat Americans would think 3:33 is fast. Sure for your obesity trials it's decent, but real running countries laugh at hobby jogger times like that

You and rhimsby are only on here to get a rise out of people. The world would be better off without you guys. You know nothing. Everyone knows this. You know this. I’ll bet you started the thread “Is the Tokyo track short?”…..It’s a good thing this is all anonymous, otherwise you’d be exposed as the naked fat dude, sitting behind his computer drooling over pictures of the same guys you mock.

You’re the real idiot for feeding the troll

Hocker can medal.

It was obvious he had another gear or two at the end of the semi and did not use it. If the race is 3:31 or slower, I think he can get top 5 and perhaps bronze.

Easy1 wrote:

Jakob C. Hocker wrote:

Had Hocker been in the second semi, he'd have still run tactically savvy. He's been so composed and technically consistent this year, level of competition notwithstanding. He closed in 25.8 (52.8).

He is up against guys that can close in 49 if they had to. Some of the 1500m runners he is racing against can run sub 3:30 with a 51 final 400m remember that. The final will not be tactical. I will bet Big Money it is going to take a New World Record to win it and Hocker isn't in that league! You heard it right hear El G's record is gone in the final!!!

Zero chance the WR goes down in this final. I would gladly take that "big money" off your hands for you.

Webbster wrote:

Hocker can medal.

It was obvious he had another gear or two at the end of the semi and did not use it. If the race is 3:31 or slower, I think he can get top 5 and perhaps bronze.

+1

Hocker has met every challenge thrown at him this year. No reason to think this final will be any different. I’m not sure he will medal, but I’m sure he’s going to impress everybody again regardless. He’s given no hint that we’ve seen his ceiling. I don’t think we have.

dingle wrote:

dblizz wrote:

Final will be 3:28 or faster w/ the final we have. Hocker's legs will get run off of him? Hope I'm wrong - he impressed today. Track is faster, shoes are faster.

Why is everyone so sure the final will be fast? It makes sense to go hard in the semi as you can weed out the kickers and still qualify, but in the final, going out hard and getting 4th doesn't get you a medal.

If you've seen Cheruiyot and McSweyn run at all, you'll know they only ever do one thing, and that is push the pace. At the very least, those two will ensure the pace is sub-3:30. The other might hang back a little and just let those two do the work, but even kickers like Kerr will need to keep the gap pretty minimal.

And yeah, Cheruiyot goes out hard and wins. It's up to the field to do something about that

Good runner who is an Antivaxx frootloop

High hopes wrote:

Hocker looked good. I still don't think he can get a medal, he was 7th fastest over the two heats, hell, even Jake Heywood ran quicker. What this race does confirm sit hat he hasn't got a lethal 150 off that sort of hot pace. Compared to Josh Kerr, who looked ragged but closed like freight train, Hocker seemed uncomfortable closing out that race - if he'd had it the tank, I'm certain he would have kicked to take the win.

But he's in the final and that gives him a shot. Let's see what he can do in a race with both Cheruiyot and Mcsweyn pushing the pace. The final is going sub-3:30, that's a near certainty.

Also, how good did Wightman look? Eased to a 3:33. I thought Kerr would be top of the Brits but I'm not so sure now

He ran faster than Cheruiyot though. Are you saying that Cheryuiot won't medal because he was 8th fastest?

GreatDane1 wrote:

Some guy Rhimby? on here was trolling hardout the last few days that Hocker was a 3:35 at best. Wonder where he is now lol

Hocker is still a 3:35 guy at best. This Olympic track is short.

These semis were ridiculously fast. Typically, the fastest times in semis at previous WCs and Olympics have been 3:34 - 3:35 (compared to the 3:33 high that didn't even get a little q at these games). The fast semis (OR in the 2nd heat) likely means a tactical final. This might play into Hocker's favor.

rhimby wrote:

GreatDane1 wrote:

Some guy Rhimby? on here was trolling hardout the last few days that Hocker was a 3:35 at best. Wonder where he is now lol

Hocker is still a 3:35 guy at best. This Olympic track is short.

Could be. Those 400 m guys and relay teams must all be real bad though.

old "lucky loophole" Hooker strikes again. Gets a slower heat and gets in.

Has a guy ever benefited this much from skirting along???

Until it’s proven that he can’t handle a sub 3:30 pace I’m going to give Hocker the benefit of the doubt. He’s already proven more than a lot of people expected. Making the final at his age and experience level is pretty impressive to me. I’m curious to see what more he’s capable of.

rrrtty wrote:

Good runner who is an Antivaxx frootloop

Or maybe he just trusts actual data on the zero benefit game (and increased incidence of adverse reactions) of vaccinating those with previous COVID:

You must be one of those people that still uses condoms when your wife is already pregnant.

Runningart2004 wrote:

No. Show me where I said that. Obviously he's better than a 3:35 in a tactical race. I'm pretty sure I said he's probably 3:32-33 (based on his mile). High 3:31 maybe in a DL race.

If it's a slow final he has a medal shot (slower than 3:35). Other than that there are simply too many faster guys running the race and my guess is Tim wants the OR and will run it down with Ingebrigtsen in tow and I think Kipsang will be with them. Then it's a fight between the British, Aussies, and Hocker. I think Kipsang is the sleeper...if a Kenyan 1500m Runner can ever be a sleeper lol.

I'm going to go with Kipsang for the win!

Alan

Alan see this where you just don't quite make the sense. Kipsang is basically the Kenyan Hocker. Under the radar he ran some nice races (with an occasional setback). But he passes the eye test for the most part. He didn't have many years on the European circuit like Simotwo or some others to run fast. He ran impressively relative to his competition with a good winning record. His PB wasn't very good until today, but there was a sense after he showed well again in the heats that he might have the goods coming in. Now he's a factor to you in a fast race, while Cole can only contend in a 3:35 race, even him looking at 90% in a 3:33 race where he wasn't positioning himself like he cared about winning.