Wise Old Man wrote:
Ok, I think of them both as young U20 phenoms and don’t think their age difference means much in evaluating their talent and ability to win global medals in the future. Kessler is amazing, no doubt, but he doesn’t seem to have the closing speed (yet) of Hocker. What Hocker does at the end of every race is phenomenal and probably the best predictor of winning races, not just racking up fast times. Never seen anybody out kick Hocker, not once so far. Ok, Kessler v Hocker over the next decade. Let’s see how it plays out.
Kessler had the fastest close in the race yesterday. I believe it was a 25 last 200, which is what Hocker has been closing in. Simply put, he has the best close from a high schooler I have ever seen. I think Hocker is a great talent, but I think Kessler has the higher potential. I would not be surprised to see them both medal maybe in Paris, and especially in LA.