Hockers 6th place is more impressive than Centros gold

Centro's gold medal is more impressive. It's an Olympic gold medal. He outfoxed and outkicked Kiprop and Makloufi, the previous two Olympic champs!

Hocker is a wonderful athlete, at present he's my fave for 1500 gold medals for the next three worlds and the next Olympics. His achievements in 2021 are beyond spectacular. But the idea that his run for 6th is more impressive that Matthew's gold is just another silly LR message board post.

And yes, I think Hocker will OWN Jakob in the upcoming years. HA! Take that, Jakob worshipers!!!! I think Tim will also beat Jakob.

Don't feed the troll.

KiwiG wrote:

We can finally assign 2016 to the second rate dumpster where it belongs. 1500m regained credibility today.

Everyone knows the rules. They lost. Centro won. Its track not figure skating. Centro is as legit as anyone, that's how track works.

"Don't forget that times are beatable, medals remain forever."

- Stefano Baldini, Gold, Marathon, Athens 2004

Not even close. The Olympic 1500m is a race, not a time trial. The 2016 final was simply a race no matter how you analyze it. Yes it was slow, but that was the race that Centro was allowed to control and win. Hocker was never ever a factor in the 2020 race. Yes he ran a wonderful time, but he was done literally after 300m.

In 2020 again, the best racer won. Ingebrigtsen had a perfect race plan and he raced to a win. Congrats to him!

Tend to agree.

It's truly astounding that the majority of posters here lack even the most rudimentary critical thinking skills. Not everything is black or white.

aisudhf89ha wrote:

Centro is Trent Dilfer. He had one lucky win. Trent Dilfer isn't better than Dan Marino even though Dilfer has more super bowl rings.

Hocker isn't Dan Marino. Dan Marino wasn't the Dan Marino you are referring to after his first NFL game. He earned his legendary status over the course of a Hall of Fame career. Hocker has run 1 and only 1 international race. Isn't it a bit early to call him Dan Marino. He might just be Charlie Frye. We'll have to see.

6th place is a certificate.

Not even a set of steak knives.

1st Place is more than your car is worth

This is a bad take and shouldn't be on the front page

No, no, no.

Centro beat 8 of the fastest 1500m runners of ALL TIME with a 50.X Last lap. Incredible.

And look at how he did it. He went straight to the front and controlled the race. There was point Sulimon came to take the lead and Centro pushed past him and regained the lead. That’s where Centro won the race. He could have stepped back and been swallowed up by the pack but he regained the lead.

He ran with purpose and one focus. He ran to win.

Watch that race. Incredibly exciting. It’s even more scintillating because Centro wasn’t even in the discussion of pre race favorites. To be an outsider and bring the win...WOW!

It's impressive how people can be smart enough to operate a computer and post a comment on an internet message board, yet dumb enough to take the bait on this troll post AND still argue about it in the comments.

No one remembers a fast time. That medal will last forever.

missBS wrote:

Hear me out……hocker runs 3:31, bests the former OR, PRs by 2 seconds after PRing by 2 seconds in the semifinal, and gets 6th in a loaded field in his FIRST world final event.

This, to me, is more impressive than the cr*p-shoot that was the 2016 final that went out in like 2:18, setting up a free for all, where the best tactician, not the best runner, won.

In 2020, the best runner won, and the best runners in the world placed where they should have, that being at the front of the pack.

This race is more impressive than Centros gold, and certainly better than the 3:49 Centro ran a couple weeks ago.

This is really clutching at straws.

Centro has run 1:44, 3:30 and 13:00 (not in dragonfly's on a super track), two world championship medals, an Olympic 4th finish and an Olympic gold medal.

Hocker has none of those things.

I was also impressed with his performance overall, but it is stupid to say he has already surpassed Centro's Olympic win.

Just for arguments sake, Centro's Olympic win was boring but the final did have 9 men who had run 3:30 or faster in it, 4 of which had run 3:28 and one who had run 3:26.

Not sure how you can say that the Tokyo final was of higher quality. Coming in only 4 had run 3:30 or faster, of which only 2 under 3:29 and none faster than 3:28.

The reason centros final was so slow was because everyone knew that there was nobody in the field that could run away from the rest. The quality was extremely high and extremely similar. So everyone played it safe and tried to win on the kick.

missBS wrote:

Hear me out……hocker runs 3:31, bests the former OR, PRs by 2 seconds after PRing by 2 seconds in the semifinal, and gets 6th in a loaded field in his FIRST world final event.

This, to me, is more impressive than the cr*p-shoot that was the 2016 final that went out in like 2:18, setting up a free for all, where the best tactician, not the best runner, won.

In 2020, the best runner won, and the best runners in the world placed where they should have, that being at the front of the pack.

This race is more impressive than Centros gold, and certainly better than the 3:49 Centro ran a couple weeks ago.

Your "opinion" is noted and well understood. That being said, you're logic is a bit skewed. The objective of racing in ANY championship event is to WIN. The time you run is NOT a factor. The gun goes off and the first athlete across the finish line is the WINNER. Ask any Olympic athlete, would they rather run a fast time or win an Olympic Gold Medal? 100% certain it would be the latter.

"No one remembers a fast time. That medal will last forever."

Really?

Name the gold medalist in 1972 Olympic 1500?

Name the man who broke the 4 minute mile.

fujimaster wrote:

Is my high school 4:38 dual meet win more impressive than the guy that get 5th at state in a loaded field with a time of 4:12? Absolutely not.

Terrible comparison. If you ran 4:38 to win your state it would be more impressive than the guy coming in 5th at state with a 4:12. Centro and Hocker were both in an Olympic final. Championships are not time trials. No one is rewarded based on time, they are rewarded based on place. I think they way Centro controlled Rio knowing everyone was trying to spool up on him was masterful. Who is to say if someone didn't take the lead from him he wouldn't have just sat on him and then kicked at the end an won anyway? Who is to say he wouldn't have run out of gas and come in second last? There are a million scenarios that did not play out, and one that did. Centro leading wire to wire just going fast enough to keep the guy behind him, behind him. Gold medal to Centro.

Does a champion ALWAYS have the most impressive performance (by definition)?

So, the state champ in the slowest winning time since 1932 wins the mile in 4:50 is more impressive than a freshman who runs 4:06 and takes 6th in another year?

Letsrun: "Nooooo we hate time trial races where only the fastest wins, boringgg.

Letsrun 2016: "No, not like that."

Centro is/was a good runner. There is no doubt about that. But his Olympic gold is not very convincing. Coe in 84, Ingebrigtsen 2020/21 etc. are far more convincing.

Centro's gold reminds a little of Steven Bradbury's win in the 2002 Winter Olympics. A win is a win some might say:

https://youtu.be/tYUjmEH9NNk