Hocker v Ingebrigtsen, Stacked 800s, & A Sub-8 Attempt By Kenneth Rooks? What to Watch in Lausanne & Silesia

Hope you enjoyed the post-Olympic break. Because the Diamond League is back this week and there are some great races on tap.

Some of the biggest stars from Paris have decided to call it a season. Noah Lyles is done. So is Rai Benjamin. Who knows if we will see Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone again this year. But plenty of others — such as Cole Hocker, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Grant Fisher, Letsile Tebogo, and Grant Holloway — will be in action as the five remaining Diamond League meets of 2024 unfold over the next three weeks.

The first two of those are this week, with the Athletissima Lausanne in Switzerland on Thursday followed by the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial (aka the Silesia DL) in Poland on Sunday. Here is a look at the races we are most excited for across the two meets. And because this is LetsRun.com, you should know where we’re going to start…

*Lausanne schedule/entries/results *Lausanne TV/streaming *Silesia schedule/entries/results *Silesia TV/streaming

1) Lausanne men’s 1500: Hocker vs. Ingebrigtsen in a battle of Olympic champions

The appeal of this one is simple: the last two Olympic 1500 champions, Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Cole Hocker, squaring off in a Diamond League.

But there’s a lot more to it than that. Ingebrigtsen may no longer be the reigning Olympic champion, but he’s still the unofficial king of the Diamond League: since the start of 2022, he has lost only one race on the DL circuit, and that was at Pre this year to Josh Kerr, his first race back after injury. Since then, Ingebrigtsen has built fitness, and in Monaco on July 12, he showed he was fitter than ever, running a 3:26.73 pb to move to #4 on the all-time list. Despite his loss to Hocker, Ingebrigtsen will go off as the favorite in this one — he has consistently proven himself in rabbitted Diamond Leagues whereas Hocker has never finished higher than 5th in five Diamond League appearances.

Hocker, meanwhile will be trying to prove that he can win on the circuit as well as in a championship, and the argument for him over Ingebrigtsen in Lausanne is not hard to follow. If Hocker can run 3:27.65 closing in 26.3 for his final 200 at the Olympics, wouldn’t Ingebrigtsen have to run close to the world record to drop him in a Diamond League?

Some are even wondering whether Hocker himself could break Hicham El Guerrouj‘s 3:26.00 world record, which has stood since 1998. He was actually asked about it in Wednesday’s pre-meet press conference in Lausanne. Here’s how Hocker responded (you can see the full exchange in the video below):

Two weeks ago, I was a 3:30 guy. And that’s a long way from 3:26.00. You have to run 3:25 to get the world record. So I’m trying to figure out, I’ve run 3:27 one time right now and I want to get comfortable running that. I am a racer and I think all of my best races come from racing them tactically and that might be just something I have to learn…Now that the world record is a conversation, I’m obviously so excited. I hope to take a stab at that, whether it’s this season or next year, or who knows? Now I have another goal to set my mind to. It was always Olympic gold and I’ve checked that box. So I’m really concerned with establishing myself as one of the greatest runners in history. So logically, that would be the next step.

That’s the right perspective. Paris was the best race of Hocker’s life and showed he is at an entirely new level than previous years. If you run 3:27 in an Olympic final, of course you’re going to start thinking about the world record.

But it’s unfair to expect Hocker to replicate that sort of performance every time out. Both Ingebrigtsen and Hocker were peaked for Paris (though Ingebrigtsen does not peak as sharply as his peers); can they hold that peak to Lausanne and beyond? Are they recovered, mentally and physically, from the grind of the Olympics? Even with a rabbit, the times could be slower in Lausanne than we saw in Paris.

But it is going to be fascinating to see how Ingebrigtsen responds if he is beaten by Hocker in Lausanne, or by Hocker, Josh Kerr, or Yared Nuguse in Zurich on September 5. Despite his recent championship losses, Ingebrigtsen has always been able to convince himself he is the best and fittest runner in rabbitted races. What will happen if he starts getting beaten in those as well?

Outside of the two Olympic champs, Olympic 5th placer Hobbs Kessler is also entered in the Lausanne 1500 along with Timothy Cheruiyot and Ollie Hoare, who will try to rebound after a disastrous Olympics.

Cole vs Jakob was a big topic in this week’s podcast .

• • Cole Hocker cocky on the Lausanne DL Press Conference is Jakob losing another 1500M?
  • Lausanne DL 1500m

2) Silesia men’s 3000: Ingebrigtsen takes on all comers

Just three days after the 1500 in Lausanne, Ingebrigtsen will face a loaded 3000m field in Silesia on Sunday. Don’t expect his performance level to drop in race #2; recall that at last year’s Diamond League final, Ingebrigtsen ran 3:43 to win the mile, then bounced back the next day to win the 3000 in 7:23.

He may have to run that fast to win on Sunday as he will be up against a star-studded field full of athletes who know they cannot afford to let the race come down to a kick against Ingebrigtsen. In Selemon Barega, Berihu Aregawi, Moh Ahmed, Ronald Kwemoi, and Grant Fisher, Ingebrigtsen will be up against five Olympic medalists. In fact, you could make a convincing argument that this race is stronger than the Olympic 5,000 final from Paris considering it features all three medalists, plus Ahmed (who fell in the prelims) and Barega and Yomif Kejelcha (who ran the 10,000 only at the Olympics). Should be a great one.

• Why I think Jakob can break the 3000 WR now

3) Lausanne and Silesia men’s 800s: This event is suddenly awesome

For the first few years of the 2020s, the men’s 800 was one of the least compelling events in track & field. Which is crazy, because the format, a mad two-lap dash with lots of bumping, is practically engineered to produce drama. But the times were slow, and the storylines weren’t great.

Oh, how things have changed. Now we’ve had a few years to get to know the new cast of characters and their racing styles, and the event has never been deeper: of the top 17 times in history, more than half have been run in 2024. In the 800, 1:41 used to be a stop-the-presses kind of time. This year, Bryce Hoppel ran 1:41 at the Olympics and did not even get a medal.

The best guys also aren’t afraid to race each other. The men’s 800 in Lausanne is not a Diamond League event, but it will still feature Olympic champ Emmanuel Wanyonyi and silver medalist Marco Arop, as well as Hoppel, Gabriel Tual (1:41.61 pb), and Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui (1:42.04 pb). All of them will be back three days later to do it again in Silesia.

We’re also officially on world record watch for the rest of the season. So far in 2024, Wanyonyi has run 1:41.70, 1:41.58, and, most recently, 1:41.19 in the Olympic final — the fastest time by anyone since David Rudisha set the 1:40.91 world record 12 years ago. Arop was just a hair behind Wanyonyi at the Olympics, running 1:41.20 — a time he accomplished with a big negative split (51.1-50.1). Get these guys in enough fast races and the world record will go at some point in the next few years.

4) Lausanne and Silesia men’s 110 hurdles: Holloway goes world record hunting

During the first part of the 2024 season, Grant Holloway raced with a weight on his shoulders that could only be relieved by winning Olympic gold in Paris — the one major title he had yet to claim in his decorated career. Now that he has it, he is free to take some risks during the remainder of the season, knowing that no matter how it ends, 2024 will go down as a success.

“These next couple races we can just go sub-13 hunting,” Holloway said in Paris. “That’s what Aries Merritt did in 2012 and at the end he was able to find a rhythm and figure that out.”

Holloway has yet to lose this year — he is a perfect 20-for-20, including prelims — so he will want to keep that streak going in Lausanne and Silesia, both of which feature 110 hurdles races (though it’s not a DL event in Silesia, which means the race will be before the international TV window). But Holloway also wants to run fast. A sub-13 in either race would give Holloway 12 for his career, breaking a tie with the great Allen Johnson for most all-time.

Holloway is also putting himself in position to replicate what Merritt accomplished in 2012. That year, Merritt won the Olympics in London, then ran 12.95 in Birmingham on August 26, 12.97 in Berlin on September 2, and finally the world record of 12.80 in his final race of the year in Brussels on September 7. By running Lausanne and Silesia (and presumably Zurich and Brussels, the two remaining DL 110 hurdles races), Holloway is giving himself as many shots at 12.80 as possible this year.

5) Lausanne and Silesia men’s 200: What can Tebogo do for an encore?

Noah Lyles may have called it a season, but Olympic 200m champ Letsile Tebogo is taking the opposite approach. After tripling in the 100, 200, and 4×400 in Paris, Tebogo will headline the 200 in Lausanne (against Fred Kerley and Erriyon Knighton) and run it back in the 200 in Silesia (against Knighton and Kenny Bednarek). It may be unfair to ask Tebogo to top the 19.46 he ran to win in Paris — it’s understandable if he is tired from the heavy workload he took on in Paris. At the same time, the dude is an absolute stud and is still only 21 years old, so who’s to say he cannot run even faster?

There is also a non-Diamond League 100 in Silesia on Sunday that is worth watching as it features Kerley, Christian Coleman, Marcell Jacobs, and Kishane Thompson. The problem is, the race is being held before the broadcast window. Note to Diamond League meet directors: this should never happen! I’m sure there is some technical or logistical explanation for why this event is unable to fit into the broadcast window.  But the men’s 100 meters is the marquee event in track & field, and this is one of the best fields of the entire year. If there is a logistical hurdle that prevents a race like this being shown live, it needs to be removed.

6) Lausanne women’s 800 and Silesia women’s 1000: Akins & Reekie look for redemption

You may have noticed it’s taken a while for us to mention a women’s race. And that’s because almost all of the women’s stars will be skipping these two meets. There’s no Julien Alfred, no Sha’Carri Richardson, no Keely Hodgkinson, no Faith Kipyegon, no Beatrice Chebet, no Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

We do have Femke Bol, who should crush everyone in the 400 hurdles in both Lausanne and Silesia. And the women’s 400 in Silesia, with Marileidy Paulino, Salwa Eid Naser, Natalia Kaczmarek, and Rhasidat Adeleke, is Olympic-final quality but still missing the one person everyone wants to see (Sydney).

In terms of distance races, one storyline worth watching across the two meets is how American Nia Akins and Brit Jemma Reekie respond to Olympic disappointments. Both were touted as medal contenders in the women’s 800 yet neither made the final in Paris, let alone the podium. These races could help Akins, in particular, moving forward, as she has raced only one Diamond League in her life to this point and it appears she is looking for a new sponsor. And though there is no Hodgkinson, the 800 in Lausanne is still quite strong, with Olympic bronze medalists Georgia Bell and Mary Moraa and 4th placer Shafiqua Maloney also on the start list.

7) Silesia men’s steeple: How fast does Rooks go in DL debut?

Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco has not lost a steeple since September 2021 and will be the clear favorite in Silesia. And though world record holder Lamecha Girma, who suffered a scary fall at the Olympics, will not be in this race, this is still a deep field. The top six from Paris are all here as well as Monaco winner Abrham Sime of Ethiopia, the second-fastest man in the world this year at 8:02.36 who didn’t get to run in the Olympics.

US fans will have an eye on Kenneth Rooks, who will race his first-ever Diamond League after a surprising silver medal at the Olympics. Rooks’ 8:06.41 in Paris moved him to #2 on the all-time US list, behind only Evan Jager‘s 8:00.45 American record. Is that time on Rooks’ mind?

“I’m going to continue to trying to focus on being process-based,” Rooks, 24, told LetsRun.com on Tuesday. “But I have thought about the American record and I can still be process-based and work toward that goal…It definitely is something that I could see happening in the future for me, especially running 8:06 closing as fast as I did. I feel like there’s gotta be six seconds I can squeeze out of there, especially in the future as I get more fit…I think it’s a possibility for the future. I don’t know exactly when. I know it’s going to be hard. Evan Jager set a pretty high bar.”

Talk about the meets on our world-famous fan forum / messageboard:

• Cole Hocker cocky on the Lausanne DL Press Conference is Jakob losing another 1500M?
• Lausanne DL 1500m
• Why I think Jakob can break the 3000 WR now