COLE OR HOBBS? WHOSE RUNNING FUTURE WOULD YOU WANT?

Webb

The guy who ran 3:31 and finished 6th in the Olympics as a 20 year old. I believe both will be excellent for the US in the long run however.

Hobbs for sure. Somehow under the radar despite being a generational talent. Hocker will constantly have to live up to his Olympic performance. He will also be subjected to the imposed will of Nike whereas Hobbs has a contract with his long term growth in mind. He's also surrounded by great mentors. Hocker is currently trying to leave his coach.

Neither one. Is this some kind of a joke?

Nuguse.

Hobbs. He’s rolling in dough whether he performs or not

I’ll take Jakob as option #3.

Depends on who wins USA's next year, its coming down to the line with nobody else close to them

Whoever stays injury free will have the best future. Who is more likely to stay healthy?

Slight edge to Hobbs as he has really good running form.

Hocker has ten times better hair so you already know the answer

Both are good and both have bright futures. I think that Cole is going to be a better 5000 runner eventually and Hobbs slightly better at the 1500 though they’ll both be close to each other. If Hocker was at his peak form now I would take him at the 1500 & 5000 over Hobbs. Hobbs also has a good future at the 800.

To belabor the obvious, the guy who ran 3:28 and finished 1st in the Olympics also was a 20 year old.

Hobbs isn't in the same conversation as Cole.

Gary MF Martin

It's actually a good question.

Cole has a great kick and solid range up to 5000m, he looks like he could be a 3:28, 12:50 guy someday and if he can find his form again he could be a medal threat in either event.

Hobbs is still very young and undeveloped. He's already got the 800m speed to be a top level miler and looks like he is in 3:32 shape now but we probably won't see that for another year. We don't know yet if he's a 800/1500 guy or a 1500/5000 guy. So maybe he's a 1:43 guy in a few years or maybe he's a 13:00 guy in a few years. Meanwhile, he looks as likely as any American to break 3:30 at some point.

I'd be pretty excited to have the potential of either of these guys. There's also Teare, three Youngs, and two Sahlmans, just to cover the biggest names.

And then there is Flatt and Sumner. It would be an exciting time to be that young and fast, in this super competitive era of American distance running. Some of these guys are going to break through and set the world on fire.

Personally, I think I'd take Hocker's talents if I had to choose one. I liked having a lot of range when I was young and racing competitively across a lot of distances, and also having a killer kick.

Thanks, this provides a lot of insight into the Hobbs vs Hocker question.

Cole has a biomechanical limit. Hobbs is smooth as silk.

(Fairly) long term, Hobbs will be in the discussion, Hocker will be asking if you want fries with that.

The big advantage Kessler has is being around and having Willis mentoring him. Willis knew how to build a career - I mean the guy had the greatest longevity in the history of middle distance running bar nobody. So I think Willis will help Kessler manage his workload and progression and sure, we haven't seen 3.30 yet or Olympic finals but the dude is only 19 years old for christs sake. Pretty good to have 1.46, 2.16 and 3.34 as a start point and a guy that understands maybe taking a little extra time to get to 3.30 is better long term than rushing to it, having that bright light and never being seen again (Andrew Wheating anyone?).

I'm a HUGE advocate of Hocker and he's incredible but this season is really worrisome. Wrote here before I wondered when his final collegiate season of running everything (including pointless 5000m races etc) would catch up with him and it was this season. Dude looked tired and running on fumes and the question will be do him and his coach a) recognise this and b) know how to remedy it. That seems like it's straight forwards but it's not that simple (especially for young, keen and motivated athletes) that basically need to tell themselves to back off for 6 months to get right. You can convince yourself that 6 months of backing off will be too many steps back to ever recover from when in reality it's not that difficult at all. What's difficult is trying to compete on an empty tank which is why the Olympic 6th placer couldn't make it out of round 1 at the trials and was running injured the whole season.

Both are great, both are incredibly talented. If you ask me today it's Kessler because I trust the team around him and need to see evidence of the same from Hockers camp which didn't appear to be there this last season.