Yared’s last 100m in Paris was equal to, or faster than Hocker’s. Yared has several fast 100ms it below 13, he finished his 3:47 indoors in 25.9 from the front. It just doesn’t look the same bc he has a loping stride.
He ran last 200m in the world 3k championships was 25.3. In 7:43 race.
In Paris Yared wasn’t blocked in the last 100m like Hocker you disingenuous twit.
Speaking of disingenuous hocker cut yared off with 200 to go, essentially doing the exact same thing to Yared Jakob did to him.
As predicted by several of us, anything “tactical” (meaning 3:30 or slower) would aee Yared missing out. That’s what happened. Although in fairness, Koech is doped to his eyeballs. Another treacherous African cheat like Lagat.
Are you willing to apply the same logic to Hocker?
guy had never dipped under 3:30 before in his life and magically runs a 3:27 in Paris??? Hasn’t won a race since. Hocker has had a ton of opportunities in “tactical races” to replicate his Olympic glory and struggles mightily to even sneak into the top 5 for most of them.
but yeah, it’s only the Africans….
This has got to be one of the last thought out posts in letsrun history.
Look, Hocker and Koech could a) both be doping b) both not be doping or c) one of them could be doping but not the other.
But if I was a sports book and I'm making betting odds that one ever tests postitive, you'd have the odds for Koech at least 300% higher than Hockers.
1) Hocker has shown himself to be a GREAT talent his entire life.
I believe he won his first national title at age 9. Then in HS he won the Footlocker xc title while barley running. In college, he won the mie and 3k on the same day in like the span of 90 minutes, beating an older and fresh Cooper Teare in the process. That was indoors in 2021. Outdoors, that year, he silenced reigning Olympic champ Matthew Centrowitz and won the US Trials and finish 6th in the Olympics - all after turning 21 that June.
When Koech was 21,he was 9th in the NCAA mile and 6th in the NCAA 800. His pbs were 1:46 and 4:01 for the mile (at altitude)
2) Hocker as a top talent who was born and raised in the US and has presumably been part of the out of testing pool for a long damn time given his stature Koech is from Kenya - which is like #2 in the world in doping - and still trains there at times.
I think it's wrong that someone says Koech is doped to his eyeballs. That's not factualy correct. That post honestly should be deleted. We like it if people say "I think he is.."
But to act like he's only saying it because he's African is absurd.
There have been a number of posts implying all criticism of Koech is racially motivated. I just think that's really weak, lazy argument. As if no one on here doubted Galen Rupp for 10+ years.
But all of this means nothing. The reality is both are eligible to compete. I've heard nothing about either of them. But let's not act like there isn't a MAJOR doping problem for athletes who train in Kenya.
PS. 300% means nothing if the odds are 1% and 3%.
This post was edited 8 minutes after it was posted.
Did Yared not watch Jakob at Paris last year??? Same strategy, same result (except one place further back). Times have changed and you can’t just run away from the field anymore.
And............. Jakob ran 3 sec faster.
Even more scary: 12 runners has run 3:29 or faster this year. Jonah Koech is no. 13 in the 2025 world ranking.
We don't know what shape Jakob will be in, but unless he is in better shape than previous years AND runs a smarter race, it'll be more like 1. Juiced Koech (Kenya). 2. Laros 3. Juiced Koech (USA).
Interesting that even the best runners in the world struggle with tactics. If front runners need to be 5% faster than the field to win why do they still try it from too early on? It is fascinating to watch front runners at every level, from elite HS up, get caught at the end. For all the coaches and gurus out there, who dissect every portion of these runs, there must be strategy that a runner like Nuguse (without the elite kick) can use? Ratchet up the pace with 1k to go? 600 to go? Why don't even these elite demonstrate more nuanced tactics than: option 1 run from the front, option 2 run in the pack, sit and kick at the end? If it was windy, why wasn't that factored in? Where is the elite coaching in all of this?
I think it's important to point out that running at the front isn't a pure net negative and it's evident from his races that it's a tactic Yared is comfortable with, particularly at USAs. I think it was fair for him and Dathan to assume that he could basically solo a 3:30ish race and he thought that the only guy who could come up to challenge him would be Cole or maybe Hobbs. But even then, in the past Nuguse has usually been able to hold on to some gears for the last 100 and challenge well. Someone mentioned his final 100 split at the Olympics but it should be noted NUGUSE HAS WHEELS. Unfortunately, they seemed to fall off a little early. And the race was just too deep for that. Strand and Koech really showed up in a way that I don't know if any of last year's Olympians thought they would. It kind of reminds me of Craig Engels in 2021: he was coming into the trials on full confidence but then these two college kids (Yared and Cole) were showing him their heels and racing Centro.
I think it's also important to factor in the "ride" you get when you are not leading. Cole has always been great at being completely buried in the pack and not letting that sap his battery for the final kick. Koech and Strand both also did a good job of this because they were both able to close like crazy despite running wide and having to make up ground on Yared and Hobbs. I don't know if Yared felt he would get a smooth ride given his stride and just general preference for the front so leading and making everyone else fight him for it in the later stages of the race wasn't a bad idea. Until, again Strand and Koech hit lane 2 with no real slow down and just blitz the final straightaway. Hobbs probably had the smoothest ride and most sensible tactics he could but still found himself in the same position as Yared despite doing none of the work. Ultimately there were a lot more guys on the line capable of running with the big dogs today vs a year ago and they handled everything they could throw at them. Not only could Yared not break them with pace, not only could Hobbs not slingshot off Yared to challenge them, but even Hocker couldn't kick them down. That's three big tests Koech and Strand passed today. Hopefully they can show up in similar form in Tokyo and Hocker shows up pissed to beat them!
So Koech hasn't raced for 2 months because of a shonky hamstring and has been in Kenya the entire time? Then he races like this? Alrighty then.
He was in hard training and the time off from his injury caused him to peak for this race.
There was a similar thing in 2021 with Clayton Murphy where he had a crazy performance at the trials because an injury forced him to reduce his training load and essentially peaked him for the trials instead of the Olympics.
I assume Ethan Strand purposefully peaked for this meet as it was his best chance of making the team.
The mistake Hobbs and Yared made is thinking they could train through this race and still make the team. Even if you have better peak fitness than someone, if you're running at 90% and they're at 100% it's not going to work out because the US is just too competitive.
12.49, 12.69, 12.54. Those are the last 100 splits of the top 3. It’s a gear that Kessler/Nuguse have never unlocked as far as I know. The race despite being 3;30 wasn’t fast enough to break the top 3 and their kicks’ top-end speed are just overwhelming for even guys as fast in a time trial as Yared/Hobbs.
Kessler doesn't have those gears? The Kessler who made the Olympic 800m team?
What Kessler did last year is history. His SB in the 800m is high 1:44.
And..... you can run a fast 800m without running sub 13 in the last 100m.
We don't know what shape Jakob will be in, but unless he is in better shape than previous years AND runs a smarter race, it'll be more like 1. Juiced Koech (Kenya). 2. Laros 3. Juiced Koech (USA).
Pathetic, envious white coevett already making up excuses and narratives for the inevitable, at least you see the writtings on the wall, with the exception of laros, he'll be another nobody.
In Paris Yared wasn’t blocked in the last 100m like Hocker you disingenuous twit.
Speaking of disingenuous hocker cut yared off with 200 to go, essentially doing the exact same thing to Yared Jakob did to him.
Another virtue signaling wokester desperately looking for points. What other stories can you make up?
That said, look at these pathetic brainwashed sheeple fawn over an obvoius cheat like Koech yet these same cripples have been attacking Hoey ceaselessly, just as they have been taught to do by their masters in the media. It’s surprising they took time out from complaining about Sydney Sweeney to put in some time here.
Now Kessler, Yared (and almost Hocker) can thank Michael Johnson for wrecking their season. Only drug fueled miscreants like both reps of clan Koech or Wanyonyi can be at or just about at, a peak for months at a time. MJ should be banned from the sport if for nothing else than stealing everyone’s money and time. Behind closed doors he’s laughing his off while counting his shekels.
Don't really get this comment. If you're racing against kickers running hard from the gun is exactly what you do.
Nuguse ran the strategy he needed to today. You could say he got out too hot but at the end of the day he just got outrun.
Koech and Strand are the real f*cking deal.
The US is the absolute best 1500m country in the world right now. What a time to be alive.
While they are the real deal I think Josh Kerr is about to win gold #3 with no yared or Jakob to worry about
Why don´t you think that Kerr doesn´t need to worry about Jakob?
And..........don´t you think Kerr needs to worry about
Habz
P Koech
Mills
Nillesen
Nader
Laros
Myers
T Cheruiyot
R Cheruiyot
J Koech
Strand
Hocker
And................ I argued in another thread that Kerr is around 2 sec from his level in the Bowerman Mile last year. His mile time last year 3:45.34 equals on paper to 3:28.60 in the 1500m but considering that he frontran the last 600m his time converts to 3:27 mid in the 1500m (this time he could have achieved in the Bowerman Mile 2024 if he had been able to draft all the way as he did in the recent DL London 1500m AND in the OG final in Paris last year).
So I don´t see Kerr as one of the foremost favorites in Tokyo.