Yeah if Hocker is injured I would handcuff him before I would permit him to run the 5000m. He needs to scratch or else nobody can trust them.
That take is understandable but it’s too quick. There are at least two ways the purported injury might be a factor here and I’m not sure we know which one is accurate.
(1) The injury is itself an ongoing issue right now (as with Brazier racing the Olympic Trials with a fracture last year).
If that’s what is going on, then I agree that he should not race a 5K on Sunday.
(2) The injury was an issue two weeks ago and limited his training but is no longer itself an active concern.
If this is the case, then racing a 5K would not present a serious threat to his physical health and might actually be a great opportunity to work on both his fitness and his racing experience in addition to him possibly having a chance to make the team if the race unfolds right for him. (Of course, if he goes out and lays another egg, it could do long-term damage to his confidence, so there’s that to consider…)
2) This seems rather unlikely and if it was serious enough that he could not run for 2 weeks he is a fool if he contests the 5000m, especially when if he lost endurance he is even more likely to pay the price in the 5000m. The only way I would consider it is if he is not really injured. Then he might want to start the race and if it is a jogathon for 2 miles he might have a shot.
If CH was forthcoming (before OR after the fact) Fauble and others would have no reason to criticize. Infact, people would be sympathetic instead of jeering.
Running isn't hockey where you need to hide injuries. DB is not hiding his foot problems.
If you're going to be Mr. Secretive and then lay an egg, then don't talk to media... Expect criticism.
Additionally, if there were any actual journalists in T&F, this would not have been a secret.
DB hid his injury last year. I remember him actually saying nothing was wrong before the OTs. I like both Hocker and DB, but let’s not pretend all runners aren’t secretive about injuries.
In other sports
Chris Paul was 100% injured in the sun's elimination game this year but we will never hear of it.
Didnt Manny Pacquiao fight Floyd Mayweather hurt one time.
Personally I see no issue with a runner saying they were hurt but a loss is still a loss regardless
That take is understandable but it’s too quick. There are at least two ways the purported injury might be a factor here and I’m not sure we know which one is accurate.
(1) The injury is itself an ongoing issue right now (as with Brazier racing the Olympic Trials with a fracture last year).
If that’s what is going on, then I agree that he should not race a 5K on Sunday.
(2) The injury was an issue two weeks ago and limited his training but is no longer itself an active concern.
If this is the case, then racing a 5K would not present a serious threat to his physical health and might actually be a great opportunity to work on both his fitness and his racing experience in addition to him possibly having a chance to make the team if the race unfolds right for him. (Of course, if he goes out and lays another egg, it could do long-term damage to his confidence, so there’s that to consider…)
2) This seems rather unlikely and if it was serious enough that he could not run for 2 weeks he is a fool if he contests the 5000m, especially when if he lost endurance he is even more likely to pay the price in the 5000m. The only way I would consider it is if he is not really injured. Then he might want to start the race and if it is a jogathon for 2 miles he might have a shot.
If he races the 5000, 2) seems likely. Why couldn't the timeline be for him to be recovered from the injury just in time? Imagine him two weeks out, deciding with advice of doctor and PT that he'd just have enough time to recover if he stopped running right then, so going for the break just then.
Loss of endurance, if that happened (he surely cross trained), isn't likely going to be an issue for prolonging any injury. He wasn't race sharp for the 1500. Maybe that's a good rust buster for the 5000.
I don’t know why people care so much about Hocker not doing a post-race interview or the details about his injury. For me, the story begins and ends with him not qualifying for the final and that it will be 2 years before he can race against the best in the world in a race that matters.
Well they care because the Next Big Thing in US mid-d running just ran a shockingly poor race. How is the possibility that this performance anomaly is explained by an injury not of interest to you? It could drastically change how you see Hocker's career progressing in the next few years.
He still is the next big thing. If he was 100%, he would have easily moved on to the final and probably won that as well. Obviously, he suffered some type of injury that hindered his training and which has happened to other athletes at big meets, but some of you are looking for some type of hidden drama.
2) This seems rather unlikely and if it was serious enough that he could not run for 2 weeks he is a fool if he contests the 5000m, especially when if he lost endurance he is even more likely to pay the price in the 5000m. The only way I would consider it is if he is not really injured. Then he might want to start the race and if it is a jogathon for 2 miles he might have a shot.
If he races the 5000, 2) seems likely. Why couldn't the timeline be for him to be recovered from the injury just in time? Imagine him two weeks out, deciding with advice of doctor and PT that he'd just have enough time to recover if he stopped running right then, so going for the break just then.
Loss of endurance, if that happened (he surely cross trained), isn't likely going to be an issue for prolonging any injury. He wasn't race sharp for the 1500. Maybe that's a good rust buster for the 5000.
This is exactly my thought. He wouldn’t be the first guy who was limited to cross-training for a couple weeks prior to a big race (I seem to remember one of the men’s NCAA 1500 or mile champions of the last decade—Henry Wynne, maybe?—who did nothing but aqua running for something like two weeks prior to the meet.) You can’t know exactly how much it’ll affect your racing unless you get out and give it a try. Hocker did that…and found out he didn’t quite have enough back yet.
But if he’s not actively injured still, then he should absolutely consider racing the 5000 (and hope the 1500 three days earlier will maybe perk the legs up some). The only risk I see—not knowing the injury but assuming he’s indeed fully healed—is the potential loss of confidence if he gets roundly beaten a second time in four days.
Unfortunately, I do think that’s a possibility, since I don’t think he has much of a chance in the 5000 even if he was at full strength. Going in, I’d favor Fisher, Kincaid, Chelimo, McGorty, Teare, Bor, and Nur over him in a 5000 right now. The odds of him beating all but two of those guys—and the rest of the field—seem pretty low, especially with compromised training.
But if he does run, it doesn’t follow that he wasn’t injured or that the injury didn’t affect his performance.
If I had a dollar for every time after a poor performance a track athlete says "But I have this nagging injury."
What happened is that you tried to front run (not your game) and lost your legs in the last 50.
Next Race go back to sit and kick.
His agent says he hasn't run in 12 days. If so, it is context for a mystifying performance. When Hocker's "bad" races since 2021 have all been early season tests and he's delivered in every NCAAs, USAs or Olympics race it's dumb to pretend like the injury wasn't a key cause of it. He front-ran yes, but so what. It's what he did in the NCAA with great success. This was a prelim heat and if he's healthy he can close in 40 seconds the last 300...please. This wasn't about tactics. It was about Hocker being unable to run 13-mid or 13-low in the last 100 of a slow 1500. That's easy for him when he's right.
Correct.
obviously something was off.
why so much hate? personalities are different - who should really care as long as ones personality isn’t harmful to others.
Its a fine line between injury and health in this sport.
Hocker, like so many runners, has been managing through injury. Therefore his preparation was offset and the timing couldn’t have been worse.
Silver lining is he will be on in August and September for DL
Scott "my PRs are 3:45/13:57 and I'm jealous" Fauble
You conveniently left out Fauble’s 2:08 marathon PR. No bias though I’m sure.
Difference is 2:08 is not a competitive marathon time globally. Americans are just in a bubble where anything under 2:10 seems good. Hocker finished 6th at the Olympics - competitive at the global level. Fauble trains all year for a single race on US soil with a diluted field and can’t even come close to winning. Fauble is literally a nobody thinking he’s somebody, like most American marathoners. The sport will forget him very quickly after he puts up a 7 paragraph Instagram featuring 10 photos from the same Boston Marathon race about how he gave it his all blah blah blah
I think Fauble's take is dumb, but he is 100% allowed to have a take. I think it's ridiculous how runners on this forum think that you can't have an opinion on someone faster than you. 90% of ESPN is people having opinions on Lebron, or Brady, or Ohtani.
Fans in other sports don't tear down their opinions and hot takes because "Lebron is better than you, Mina Kimes/Stephen A/Jalen Rose". Running is the only sport where people think like that. Coach K was a mediocre player. Do you think his players listen to him despite that? Yeah, because dissecting performances is not the same as being able to physically accomplish those performances.
Not at all. If he was injured, he still ran like a fool.
I agree. CH may have been injured, which kept him from putting the final touches on his training for USA's, and that could have prevented him from putting his well-known kick to use to get through to the next round. But it can also be fair to criticize someone for "not racing enough" to get the tactics right.
GRANTED, it may have been a more appropriate comment to make if Cole had been beat in a tactical semi or final.
Not at all. If he was injured, he still ran like a fool.
I agree. CH may have been injured, which kept him from putting the final touches on his training for USA's, and that could have prevented him from putting his well-known kick to use to get through to the next round. But it can also be fair to criticize someone for "not racing enough" to get the tactics right.
GRANTED, it may have been a more appropriate comment to make if Cole had been beat in a tactical semi or final.
Pretty remarkable people think his tactics were bad. He did this in last year's semi with Centro, was at the front most of the way. If he's fit this year he could have just cruised the last 100 for an easy W.
You conveniently left out Fauble’s 2:08 marathon PR. No bias though I’m sure.
Difference is 2:08 is not a competitive marathon time globally. Americans are just in a bubble where anything under 2:10 seems good. Hocker finished 6th at the Olympics - competitive at the global level. Fauble trains all year for a single race on US soil with a diluted field and can’t even come close to winning. Fauble is literally a nobody thinking he’s somebody, like most American marathoners. The sport will forget him very quickly after he puts up a 7 paragraph Instagram featuring 10 photos from the same Boston Marathon race about how he gave it his all blah blah blah
But how come you get to sit in judgment of Fauble (I'm assuming you haven't run a 2:08), but he's not allowed to have an opinion on Hocker?
I agree. CH may have been injured, which kept him from putting the final touches on his training for USA's, and that could have prevented him from putting his well-known kick to use to get through to the next round. But it can also be fair to criticize someone for "not racing enough" to get the tactics right.
GRANTED, it may have been a more appropriate comment to make if Cole had been beat in a tactical semi or final.
Pretty remarkable people think his tactics were bad. He did this in last year's semi with Centro, was at the front most of the way. If he's fit this year he could have just cruised the last 100 for an easy W.
But he wasnt fit, so clearly it wasn't the best tactic.
I think Fauble's take is dumb, but he is 100% allowed to have a take. I think it's ridiculous how runners on this forum think that you can't have an opinion on someone faster than you. 90% of ESPN is people having opinions on Lebron, or Brady, or Ohtani.
Fans in other sports don't tear down their opinions and hot takes because "Lebron is better than you, Mina Kimes/Stephen A/Jalen Rose". Running is the only sport where people think like that. Coach K was a mediocre player. Do you think his players listen to him despite that? Yeah, because dissecting performances is not the same as being able to physically accomplish those performances.
Of course, Fauble can say whatever he wants but the OP copied his baseless post to support his belief that Hocker, who has been outstanding in the 1500m, has somehow morphed into becoming an also ran and is faking an injury.
Pretty remarkable people think his tactics were bad. He did this in last year's semi with Centro, was at the front most of the way. If he's fit this year he could have just cruised the last 100 for an easy W.
But he wasnt fit, so clearly it wasn't the best tactic.
Well whose to say it wasn't? Maybe he wouldn't have got through running with different tactics either. Anyways tactics are overrated – it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand how to optimally run a 1500m based on a few variables.