How? He hasn’t won any 1500 races in 1.5 years and he can only win tactical 3000/5000 races. Doesn’t seem like a favorite.
"He can only win tactical 3000/5000 races" - So he can only win the ones that are the most important.
Be honest with yourself too, do you think he won't win the Sound Running mile?
There is no question that Hocker is the favorite to win any 1500, or 3000m race he starts now. Not Nader, Kerr, Nuguse, or even Myers (who is ending his season anyhow it appears).
How? He hasn’t won any 1500 races in 1.5 years and he can only win tactical 3000/5000 races. Doesn’t seem like a favorite.
"He can only win tactical 3000/5000 races" - So he can only win the ones that are the most important.
Be honest with yourself too, do you think he won't win the Sound Running mile?
There is no question that Hocker is the favorite to win any 1500, or 3000m race he starts now. Not Nader, Kerr, Nuguse, or even Myers (who is ending his season anyhow it appears).
? How can Hocker possibly be the favorite to win any 1500m he’s entered in? What a mind-boggingly dumb statement. Tell that to his race results last year!
How? He hasn’t won any 1500 races in 1.5 years and he can only win tactical 3000/5000 races. Doesn’t seem like a favorite.
I guess we'll see. But if I give you $1,000 to bet on any runner in a 1500, who would you put it on? Because I'd put it on Hocker every time right now
I would put it on Nader every time. Without Jakob, it would be a slow race any way. Nader with his 1:43 pb (Wightsman as well) would easily blow Hocker (who is 2 secs slower) out of the water when it comes down to kick. Hocker is great at fast races, because he's an endurance monster like Jakob as proven in Tokyo 5k, but he hasn't proven himself really in a tactical race especially with his awkward positioning.
It’s five wins. Why should we dismiss his heat win? It’s a freaking race isn’t it? It’s a footrace against other competitors. Why wouldn’t it count as a victory? What do want him to do; slow down at the end, lose on purpose, and possibly lose the chance to advance to semis just because it’s a qualifying round? He won that race. It doesn’t matter that it was a heat or not. He crossed the finish line first in a distance of 1500m. How is that not winning an international 1500m race? You’re just looking for any reason you can to hate on Hocker and tarnish his win record.
A heat isn't a race to win but to qualify. That's what most competitors are seeking to do - and they save energy by not trying to win. The "winner" is merely just another qualifier.
Correct. Clearly.
It takes a massive Hocker fanboy like Goethe to count that as an outdoor win for Hocker.
(But I get it. Hocker only won one international race outdoors in 2025, and lost over 10.)
-learn English so he can do at least one interview
-win more than two races that fans actually care about
-run a WR that doesn’t get invalidated because he cheated from illegally drafting off the pace car
You've effectively conceded that Kiplimo's competitive record is better than Hocker's.
Right?
Goethe can't attack a guy with a near-immaculate world-beating record in the HM, whose only two marathons have been #2 in London and #1 in Chicago, in the same year.
So he starts talking about a Ugandan's English skills and the fact a pace car drove too close to him.
Hint to Goethe: you can tell "the fans" care about road racing precisely because that is where the money is. And far more people care about World XC than care about domestic time-trials.
It has to be brought up because it is part of the picture but Hocker's win-loss ratio, where he loses as a routine and then miraculously crushes everyone in a global final, makes him one of the most suspect runners on the pro circuit.
It is certainly widely labelled as suspect when other runners do it...
By 2024 Kiplimo had already long-ago moved to longer distances on the roads. He won his first two international half marathons in 2020, in 58:xx and 57:xx.
In 2024 Kiplimo was a verteran half marathoner, preparing for the marathon.
And he still ran 26:49 in the Paris 2024 games. Three seconds from gold.
Talking about his Kiplimo's track 10,000 in 2024 is like talking about Hocker's 800. It's his third-best event. And anyone who know the sport would take would take Kiplimo's 10,000 over Hocker's 800 any day. (1:45 lol.)
Kiplimo was still active on the track. He didn't make his marathon debut until April 2025. It's absurd to claim he didn't do his best at the OLYMPICS because he was preparing for his marathon debut to come 8 months later,
Wow, you must not have ever raced a quality marathon.
1. 2024 was Kiplimo's 5th season racing elite half marathons: 57:xx or 58:xx every year from 2020 onward. Track was obviously a secondary focus.
2. For a 7:26 / 12:40 guy to move from track to the marathon clearly means a change in training. For someone training for a 2:03 debut marathon to fast as anyone in the field for 10,000 but lacking a kick is EXACTLY what you would expect from a half marathoner moving up, but still racing 10,000 for his country and because it's the Olympics.
"12 losses. 4 event wins (not 5), only one of them international."
That's a pretty thin case for World No 1.
When runners are introduced on the start line, their win-loss record isn't mentioned. They only announce what titles or medals each runner has won. Only two men right now from 800 up have the special status title of Reigning Olympic Champion and Reigning World Champion: Cole Hocker and Emmanuel Wanyonyi. They are the only real contenders for the crown of #1 distance runner in the world right now.
Hocker gets the crown because his golds have come in more than one event and because he won a big race last weekend. His Millrose win is an important consideration for determining who is #1 right now. We haven't seen Wanyonyi race in nearly 5 months.
King Cole Hocker is #1 right now.
Hahaha - what an asinine argument. So the items that announcers recite for TV viewers are most important? That's not even an argument. Think for yourself.😂
And only a reigning Oly/world champion can be in the conversation for "#1 distance runner"?
This logic would put Gressier, who beat Kiplimo by 3 seconds in Paris 2024, ahead of Kiplimo, who beat Gressier by a full minute in World XC, is the world's best HM runner, and top 2 in the world for the marathon. 🤡
Finally, sorry to break it to you, but aside from fanboy opinions a slow indoor two-mile has no bearing on world rankings. (Since you like to rely on others to tell you who's best, try the current World Athletics rankings: FISHER is #1 in his event group, not Hocker. GUESS WHAT PLACE KIPLIMO IS IN ROAD RACING?)
It has to be brought up because it is part of the picture but Hocker's win-loss ratio, where he loses as a routine and then miraculously crushes everyone in a global final, makes him one of the most suspect runners on the pro circuit.
This, and the infamous "3:30 high-3:31 guy for years -> drops a sub 3:30/3:29/3:28 in just one race (3 sec PR) -> then back to 3:30 high guy".
EXTREMELY SUS.
But this aside,Hocker loses too often in his main event (1500, mile) to be considered #1
Aside from his excellent championship win, he lost every single international race he ran outdoors in 2025. Every. Single. One.
GST sit-and-kicks, Diamond League time trials, Pre, Stockholm, 1500, mile, 5000. So many losses. He lost... everything.
It is hard to repeatedly race the best and have a winning records for the season. (Lyles, Wanyonyi and Jakob are good examples.)
But to be called the "official #1 in the world" you sure can't lose 90% of your races. (We was in 3rd or lower in all of those, except for one GST meet.)
If what the announcers said before a race decided these things there would be no need to race. Did the announcers mention Hocker's (few) wins when he stepped up to the line at all those other international races he lost?
No, because Hocker's record in Grand Slam Track doesn't matter.
Being #1right now is about reigning titles and current form. Hocker checks both boxes.
Your writing off Hocker's terrible string of 1500s in GST is hilarious. I'm sorry, but that's where HE chose to spend his time, and he got smoked over and over (3rd, 3rd, 2nd in the 1500; 5th, 6th, 6th in the 800.)
Since you like obvious information that announcers pull from runners' resumes:
Gressier was announced in 2025 as the winner of 3 DL races, including the DL Final. Season's bests of 3:32, 12:51, 59:45.
Hocker was announced at a guy who in 2025 came 4th in the mile at Pre, and 7th in the 5000 at Stockholm, and had season's bests of 3:30 and 12:57🥱. (But hey, he really "peaked" later in the season! Him and Isaac Nader.)
Leave your obsessive doping aspersions out of this thread. We're talking about who's #1 here, not who you suspect is doping or not doping.
Going by current titles and current form, who is better than Hocker?
Actually, pro-Hocker fanboys have been talking about how bad they think Kiplimo's English is, and the pace car in his 56:42 HM. It makes no sense to talk about a pace car but not actual doping. 🤡 So your argument above has zero standing.
Going by current titles and present form, at least two guys are better than Hocker. He has Oly Gold 2024 (18 months ago), WC Gold 2025, no other wins of note, only one impressive time in 2025 1:45🥹 / 3:30🥱 / 7:23👍 / 12:57🥱, consistent loser and looking cooked in his best event).
Jakob Kiplimo
- Reigning Chicago Marathon champion (2:02:23) - Reigning 3x XC World Champion - 2025 times 56:42 / 2:02:23 - Consistent winner in his best event
LET'S TRY OBJECTIVITY: World Athletics currently ranks Kiplimo #1 in road racing (1326 points), and ranks Hocker #2 in his event group. There is a quantitative reason for that.
DID YOU KNOW THAT WORLD ATHLETICS HAS SOMETHING CALLED RANKINGS, WHICH COMPARE ATHLETES IN DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES?
Quite simply, any race between 1500 and 5000 right now, Cole shocker starts as favourite.
That's a weird assertion.
He hasn't won a single 1500 or mile in over 18 months.
Other than he Paris win, he came 4th at Pre, got smoked at every GST race he ran, and came 3rd at USATF trials.
It is almost bizarre to call that guy a favorite at this point. Betting on him to lose a 1500 is actually pretty smart money. Milers have a way of clinging to the distance even when it is done with them.
Until proven otherwise, all evidence is that Hocker is cooked in the 1500/mile, with his Olympic fluke being a great pinnacle.
There is no question that Hocker is the favorite to win any 1500, or 3000m race he starts now. Not Nader, Kerr, Nuguse, or even Myers (who is ending his season anyhow it appears).
? How can Hocker possibly be the favorite to win any 1500m he’s entered in? What a mind-boggingly dumb statement. Tell that to his race results last year!
Reality check in aisle 4:
Hocker outdoor 2025:
GST: L, L, L, L, L, L (Never placed higher than 3rd) Diamond League: L Mile, L 5000 (4th and 7th) USATF: L, W (3rd 1500, 1st 5000) WC: DQ 1500, W 5000
In 6 outdoor 1500s last year, he had 5x 1500/mile losses outdoors, 6x if you count his DQ, never even placed top-2, and had 0 wins.
If you call that the "favorite" in the event, I want to do some bets with you.
