Lausanne 1500 Hocker vs. Jakob

I don’t think Hocker will win. Yes he somehow peaked incredibly for the olympics but he is notorious for underperforming in diamond leagues. If Jakob runs 3:25-3:26 and Hocker runs 3:28-3:29 he should be happy with that.

Huge advantage for Jakob is that he will likely have pacers for 1000-1200m, depending who they can get to rabbit. He should have much more left in the tank that final 300 meters where he makes the other runners hurt. Yes, Hocker might be able to still hold on, but Jakobs last 150 in a rabbited race is unmatched to anyone.

I don't think Hocker will care what the result is. I would think it's a huge mental letdown after winning the Olympic 1500 like that, and it will be hard to summon that kind of a race form his body again. That said, I hope they both run killer times, I'm looking forward to watching. I think Jakob has a WR in him if properly paced.

Hocker has the same advantage - and then some. Same as in the olympic final.

When's Jakob tackling the 3k?

Epic. We could the the American Record fall and possibly the World Record.

Lot of distractions that comes with being the Olympic gold medalist. Centro had one of his worst year’s of his career in 2017. I think that was the year he dyed his hair blonde thinking he wouldn’t make the team and would go straight to Vegas following US championships . Not saying that will happen to Cole but hopefully he has a good support system around him to sort of help mitigate the distractions.

More likely its a dud for both. 3:32 jog fest.

I have to say , if he is in the 1500 I see this as diminishing returns except his fee probably went way up. I doubt he runs anywhere near as fast. I would have looked for an "off" event. Hocker, I mean. Jakob can TT his ass off, he will run well again.

Hocker is very lightly raced, though. Do I think he will run 3:27 again? Probably not, but I think 3:28-29 is highly possible. The turnaround is better than Kerr last year for instance (that was 8 days), and he will have Jakob to push the pace after the rabbit.

Jakob has had two 5,000 meters since the 1,500 final, Hocker none.

I think Jakob was in WR shape at Olympics, but dont think he will be in Lausanne - 5 races during Olympics likely have taken a toll

Yeah that’s why I’d expect him to run a more conservative 56s rhythm and kick. I think Jakob handles those 5000s easily. He’s a machine and they were slow races.

The first 5000, although on tired legs, was basically a jog. I'm not even sure the final took that much out of him. I think he'll be fine.

Fair enough. I just think he has squeezed every last ounce of the 1500 this year, could he run a 1000, or move to 3K? I don't know. I guess people want to see him again at 15, I have seen 6, so he could move an event or so either side.

“notorious for underperforming in diamond leagues”

I’ll never understand why people make up narratives on LR.

Cole has 3 done only diamond league miles, all of them being prefontaine.

2022 - 3:50 (1500 PR was 3:31)

2023 - 3:48 (1500 PR was 3:30)

2024 - 3:48 (1500 PR was 3:30)

You guys just keep underestimating this guy. When will you ever learn? Hocker is going to Lausanne and WILL break the world record, if the pacers allow for this possibility.

The dude just ran a 3:27, with more left in the tank, and is calling his shot again against Jakob? He's not going to settle for 3:29 or even 3:28. I am 100% serious.

Nor were his 1500m times so bad last year with a 3:32.13 at London DL and 3:32.0 in Zurich 8 days after his 3:30.7 in the Budapest final. That’s why with more rest my baseline pick is 3:28.5-3:29.5 and a top 3 finish in Lausanne. I still expect Jakob to win because he’ll get 1K of pacing and I suspect Hocker will have enjoyed his gold medal a bit.

It's funny, when Nguse beat Kerr in Zurich last year by a vest, Americans here were saying it proved that Kerr had gotten lucky, and Jakob amd Nuguse had been ill in Budapest.