We had a nice chat with Cole and a ton of the 1500 guys after this one. We'll put them all in our recap on the front page, but here is the Hocker info.
Quick Take: Cole Hocker proves he belongs, gains a lot of confidence as he still had another gear he didn’t unleash, and hopes to contend for a medal
When someone closes as well as Cole Hocker did at USA and NCAAs, it’s pretty obvious to true distance aficionados that he is world-class. But given his modest pb (3:35.28), some skeptics were still out there. Today, racing in a stacked first heat which featured eight guys who have broken 3:34 this year, Hocker ran a great race tactically and had plenty in the tank when it was time to kick for the auto spots.
“I felt really good, and that race gave me a lot of confidence because it's my first Olympics of course and first international race altogether so that was just a completely different experience,” Hocker said. “I'm really happy with how I was able to handle myself in the most competitive race I've ever been in.
“It really builds my confidence. Like, of course [the first round is] not a race that people are going all-out but sort of on that last 100 meters a lot of the times people have to kick in to their all-out gear to guarantee that top six, and I didn't feel like I had to do that and I was able to lock in that top six and that gives me a lot of confidence.”
Considering Cole Hocker's 2021 campaign started six months and five days ago on January 29 with an indoor race in Arkansas, it was natural to wonder if Hocker would be feeling worn down after having had such a long season. Hocker himself admitted he wondered that but said he felt great.
“That was another thing -- I was kind of wondering about going into this first race back in a month [if I would feel burned out], but I really think that month off really gave me time to recover, and I tried to recover during that month off and then sort of sharpen up right here at the end just because I've had that such a long season of building fitness I'm not going to lose it really with taking a little downtime.”
World, watch out. Cole Hocker is still looking sharp and now he’s playing with house money and hopes to contend for a medal.
“Yeah, that's something I had to keep telling myself like for so long. This was the goal to get here and then I'm putting this pressure on myself. I don't want to get out in the first round like [if that happens it’s] almost like not worth coming out in my mind, which of course isn't true. But it's pretty interesting how my perspective changes just after one race and I hold myself to a much higher standard, but I do have to keep reminding myself like this [making it here] was the ultimate goal for so long. And now just take advantage of it.
“Pretty much after NCAAs, [my focus] switched to the Trials and then immediately after Trials it switched to Olympics and hold myself to like not just qualifying and not just making it to the final but performing well and hopefully contending for a medal.”