LOL I told you guys exactly what could happen and you trashed on me.
Well, Nuguse still won a bronze and almost got Kerr, so I don't think he's overrated as you said. But you did nail it on Hocker.
About Nuguse I said "Nuguse is a consistent 3:29-3:30 guy so far with the potential to run 3:27-3:28 on a perfect day.", which is exactly what he did today. Even though he was closing like a freight train today and may have won if the race was 1520m, he doesn't have Hocker's ability to instantly accelerate, so Hocker got the jump on him. Nuguse could win races like this if he can time it better so he hits top speed a little earlier.
Hocker has a Tecmo bowl Bo Jackson kick which is why I've been in his camp since 2021. All he had to do was shave that last 2-3 seconds off which happened today.
When I said Nuguse was overrated I just meant that everyone thinks he's 2-3 seconds faster than Hocker because of the 343. I felt they were more closely matched and if Hocker got the kind of setup JI rabbit thing that Nuguse had when he ran 343, that Hocker would get a 2-3 second PR and have the possibility to win with his sick kick.
I was both shocked and not surprised when he did exactly that. I felt this could happen but it's still shocking to see it occur and I shouted so loud at the TV that my daughter came down to see if I was ok, she thought I fell down the stairs or something. What an awesome day. Plus Hobbs getting 5th for the icing on the cake.