This must be a troll post, right? Let’s look at the last two outdoor global finals:
—2024 Olympics: Hocker executes a tactically brilliant race to slip by the reigning world champion on the inside in the final 30 meters and win gold in Olympic-record time.
—2025 World Championships: After beating Olympic medalist Grant Fisher to win the 5000 at USAs, Hocker goes to Tokyo. He is in 12th position at the bell, runs a 52.6 final 400 and wins gold in 12:58.
He’s a phenomenal racer.
- 2025 World Championship: burned energy at the start, settled back, got boxed in, tried to cheat by elbowing and shoving his way through a non-gap, didn’t make the final
- 2025 GST: lost to 800m guys and rookies by burning energy at the start, settled back, got boxed, falters with a failing kick
- 2025 USATF 1500m: burned energy at the start, settled back, got boxed in, falters with a failing kick
- 2026 USATF Indoor: burned energy at the start, settled back, got boxed in, falters with a failing kick and loses to 3 guys who never be able to run sub 3:31 in their lives + Yared Nuguse
9/10 races Hocker displays poor tactics and loses races that he had the fitness and strength to win. Arguably the worst tactician in the past 6 years and looks to repeat it again in 2026. At this rate, there won’t be a chance to win anything at a 2027 WC or 2028 OG because he runs the risk of not qualifying for those either. This post will age like fine wine and not spoil
Slower runner singular in this case, and Kerr ran 8:01 so he’s not that much slower by any means
Kejelcha and Kiplimo do often have poor tactics though. They often do a more fatal mistake than Hocker does. He might wait too late and be too reluctant to run wide. Those guys are often too willing to run wide and don’t wait long enough to make their kick. They waste valuable energy throughout the race. I’ve seen them give up prime position in critical moments too. The Ethiopian coaches finally mostly got through to Yomif last year but he admitted he still went 100 meters too early and it ended up costing him.
Kerr is the exception rather than the rule to me. Might not always have a ton the last 50 but he makes every race winnable from there.
Kerr's 8:01 two-mile is much worse than Hocker's 7:23! As far as PBs go, Kerr is far slower than Hocker in a TT 3000, hands down.
Agreed that Kejelcha and Kiplimo have also shown poor tactics. There is lots of room in the bad tactics club.
Kerr is indeed far at the positive end of the spectrum as a tactician, seeming to run above rather than below his potential.
This cannot be a serious take. 3 WC Golds and an OG Gold all in the same event. Ran the 3rd fastest 1500m all time pre-super spikes. Dozens of wins under his belt
burns energy at the start to lead, settles back to the middle, gets routinely boxed in from 800-300m from the line, and falters with a failing kick. Happens 9/10 times in races that don’t matter and in global finals. Discuss
This must be a troll post, right? Let’s look at the last two outdoor global finals:
—2024 Olympics: Hocker executes a tactically brilliant race to slip by the reigning world champion on the inside in the final 30 meters and win gold in Olympic-record time.
—2025 World Championships: After beating Olympic medalist Grant Fisher to win the 5000 at USAs, Hocker goes to Tokyo. He is in 12th position at the bell, runs a 52.6 final 400 and wins gold in 12:58.
He’s a phenomenal racer.
Selective memory much??
Let's look at the events you "glazed" over at those last two global outdoor finals...
2024 Olympic 5000: Not in the race. 7th in 13:20 at trials, weeks after running a 12:58 PB. TERRIBLE tactics.
2025 World Championships 1500: Put himself in a terrible position in a semifinal and couldn't even qualify for the final, instead getting disqualified for some desperate flailing. TERRIBLE tactics.
In Hocker's interview, he didn't rage. He gave himself an A minus. Personally, I think that it was more like a B or B +. Had the race been 2 yards longer, he would have won. When he was DQ'd at the US trials in the 1500, he didn't rage either. He used the energy to win the 3000. I have never seen him give arrogant interviews like Kerr proclaiming that he was the best runner around just before this race. I have never seen an interview where he raged, only where he was disappointed in himself.
burns energy at the start to lead, settles back to the middle, gets routinely boxed in from 800-300m from the line, and falters with a failing kick. Happens 9/10 times in races that don’t matter and in global finals. Discuss
Whole lot of armchair quarterbacking coming from people who have clearly never raced at a high level, never spent time on their tactical acumen, and don’t appreciate what Hocker has done today and in his career.
An astute observer or a savvy veteran would recognize that:
1) Yes, Cole got outwitted by Kerr today. When Nuguse tripped up with Wale, Kerr realized an opportunity and slid next to Cole, effectively boxing him in from 500 to 350 out. To Schrub’s credit, he rode Kerr’s slipstream to keep Cole boxed from 350 to 200. By then, the race was decided.
Those of you paying attention will notice Kerr looks inside at the bell. Who is he looking for? Why would he look BACK AND INSIDE at this moment? Hocker! He knows who the threat is, and his move to box in Cole was intentional.
A savvy move by a skilled veteran in Kerr! That doesn’t mean Cole is a bad tactician, but he did get outmaneuvered by wily Josh Kerr.
2) Nuguse cost Hocker the gold. Two key things happened. Cole was in a good spot to come up behind Nuguse and then was itching to pass him coming off the curve with 450 to go. But when Nuguse ran into the back of the Wale and tripped both he and Yihune at 500, it pushed Cole back, next to Kerr. This setback hurt Hocker, obviously, but didn’t decide the race. With 300 to go, Cole was again in reasonable position, but he was relying on Nuguse pushing forward, knowing that in the past Nuguse has had some strong finishes.
Unfortunately for Cole, he could not count on Yared’s fitness today, and his fellow American didn’t shift gears from 300-150 out. By the time Cole realized that Nuguse wasn’t going to carry his position on the rail to a fast finish, it was already 150 to go and Kerr was streaming away. I am sure Cole saw Kerr and Nuguse as his 2 biggest threats today. And I am sure that he was likely surprised to see Nuguse moving backward at that moment. Just a few steps of hesitation cost him the margin of victory.
Anyway, my two cents, as someone who has won quite a few races with tactics alone, but also some with fitness alone. Neither of the above points makes Cole a bad tactician. You all claiming he’s a poor tactician are a bunch of amateurs who clearly understand nothing about tactical championship racing, particularly indoors.
His hardware, including today, speaks for itself.
Give credit to Kerr for a masterclass, to Schrub for the race of his life, and to Hocker, for beating EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD.
Sincerely,
Someone who has been there and done that
Enjoyed this post. Hocker did say in his interview that he was thinking of moving up until he saw Nuguse and the Ethiopians bump each other with 500 to go, he got worried and decided to back off rather than venture into traffic with a move.
I'm just not totally convinced Hocker would really have tried to make a move earlier if that didn't happen.
One other thing I haven't seen many discuss is that there is an energy cost to moving earlier or matching moves and as a result Hocker's kick may not be as sharp if he has to use some energy to maneuver his way to the leader's shoulder as Kerr did. But I'd like to see Hocker try it sometime and find out how much it affects his kick. Maybe it won't take as much out of him as he thinks? Or maybe, because he has superior positioning, he doesn't need to have the fastest last lap. That's the gamble Kerr took in Torun and it paid off.
Kerr's 8:01 two-mile is much worse than Hocker's 7:23! As far as PBs go, Kerr is far slower than Hocker in a TT 3000, hands down.
Agreed that Kejelcha and Kiplimo have also shown poor tactics. There is lots of room in the bad tactics club.
Kerr is indeed far at the positive end of the spectrum as a tactician, seeming to run above rather than below his potential.
It’s worth a 7:25.0. Hardly much worse or indicating he’s much slower. Kerr has said his prep for that race wasn’t ideal.
Kerr is basically the successor to Bernard Lagat tactically. I don’t remember every one of Lagats rivals being considered the worst ever when he outmaneuvered them. Ditto Centros. If you think Hockers tactics were bad I’d suggest you look at Isaac Naders from World Indoors 2023-24. Even last year his worlds win was crazy, his kick overcame far sharper tactical races from places 2-4. But he won, which is all to say luck can obscure things.
Kejelcha has that title. No outdoor golds and no top 5 Olympic finishes for someone who has run 3:31, 3:47, 7:23, 12:38, 26:31, and 57:30
Kiplimo is up there too. I know he never blasted a maximal 10,000, but I think he could run damn near 26:10 if not faster. 2 bronzes all he has to show for it and all you have to do is watch those races back.
I think we (rightly) hold Hocker to a really high standard because we see he has the tools to win every race. But maybe the best way to put it is Hocker makes lots of minor, but noticeable errors. He doesn’t make the huge, terrible ones (save last years semi I guess) typically. He said he got spooked by the trip involving the Ethiopians but I think the calculation there should’ve been to tail Kerr not tuck in.
How many times has Kiplimo been the favourite going into a track race, especially a major one? Maybe never.
Hocker is being judged on his tactics for a reason.
And Kejelcha...I feel like he is usually one of many contenders, and also gets screwed around by Ethiopian event selection and whatever random team tactics discussions are happening in the background.
Whole lot of armchair quarterbacking coming from people who have clearly never raced at a high level
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Cole got outwitted by Kerr today
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Sincerely,
Someone who has been there and done that
Meh.
When a 3:27 / 3:45 / 7:23 guy runs to the lead, then dawdles around mid-pack with runners 10+ seconds slower than him in a 3000m, he has outwitted himself.
Interesting vagueposting sign-off, though.
Since you aren't saying anything particularly controversial, why don't you show some conviction and put your name to your post?
The thing that is also perplexing about Hocker's tactics, is that it is all fully intentional. Listen to his post race interview. He wants to take the lead early, and then he wants to give it up...it was all going to plan - apparently - until he wasn't able to execute the 3rd step in his plan perfectly, the last gasp sprint.
How many times has Kiplimo been the favourite going into a track race, especially a major one? Maybe never.
Hocker is being judged on his tactics for a reason.
And Kejelcha...I feel like he is usually one of many contenders, and also gets screwed around by Ethiopian event selection and whatever random team tactics discussions are happening in the background.
The reason Kiplimo isn’t the favorite is
a) his history of underperforming
b) his tactical issues
c) Joshua Cheptegei continual success
In 2021 if Kiplimo (and not Barega) had taken advantage of a rare blunder by Cheptegei to win 10K Olympic Gold he’d have been the favorite many times over. Instead he ran a tactically poor race, which became his reputation even as he was really good on the circuit in his off events 3000-5000. Kejelcha I mean watch his last 600s of championship races from 2021-2024, truly a tough watch.
We hyper-analyze Hocker I think because his tactics are unusual. How many guys are willing to lead early? Not a huge number. How many guys are willing to do that and concede late position like he does? Probably none. He races in his own way. Most guys are front runners, sit and kick guys, or they play possum towards the front and then kick late. Hocker mixes it up as much as anyone, but his tactics aren’t usually disastrous/terrible. I really don’t think so.