IT WOULDN’T BE accurate to say Cole Hocker was wandering lost through the woods in 2022 and ’23, but those seasons did represent a small hiatus from excellence in what has becoming a splendid career.
Not to say Hocker’s 7th-place showing at the ’23 World Championships in Budapest fell very far short of excellence. Ditto his 3:48.08 mile to place 6th at the DL Final in Eugene last September. The latter performance raised him to No. 4 all-time U.S. miler. He, at last, rounded the corner late last summer.
The culprit, as it usually is, had been health, and as the calendar turned over to 2024 those tribulations lay behind the Indiana native.
Over the course of the season — signaling blue chip performances ahead in taking silver at the World Indoor in March — Hocker set himself up for something special, and he delivered in full by winning the fastest-ever U.S. 1500 for his second Trials win at that distance.
Hocker said of his 3:30.59, “You could have told me that was a 3:35 race and I’d have believed it,” which gives a good indication of where he is heading to Paris.
“I had a lot to prove this outdoor season,” said Hocker, who relocated from Eugene to Blacksburg, Virginia, this year to stay with coach Ben Thomas. “Half the battle is getting to the line healthy and that’s what I kept telling myself. I’m here, I’m healthy, I’ve PRed in every event the past 365 days. I knew I couldn’t set myself up better. It’s just executing on the day.”
Hocker has been executing at a high level throughout what could be called a comeback season after some injury sidetracks the previous 2 years. To reach the “getting to the line healthy” goal, “I dialed down anything I could control: my eating, my sleeping, all the boring things,” Hocker said. “It was a lot to learn from coming out of college really hot, then remembering oh, you can get injured. It’s not a straight up line. I didn’t leave anything to chance.”
That’s showed all season. Hocker is running better than he ever has, which gives this run to the Olympics more urgency than his 6th-place finish in Tokyo that followed his first Trials win and breakout soph season at Oregon.
“It’s a completely different feeling,” Hocker said. “The nerves are all there. 2021 was a cherry on top of a really good NCAA season, I had nothing to lose. Everyone who watches and competes in this sport knows that the dog who has nothing to lose runs pretty well.
“I felt like I had more to lose in this one. It was make that team or bust. I definitely felt that pressure, it was a completely different mental side of it this year. Honestly I’m really proud of myself, the way I handled that because it’s really hard.
“I trust that I worked hardest, as hard as I could. That’s all I could do. So many of these guys are deserving of this team, making the top 3 is so cutthroat I’m so happy I was the first one across the line.”
The 1500 was part of a busy week that included racing to 7th in the 5000 final on the Trials’ final day. Hocker feels splitting his concentration on the two distances paid dividends in the 1500.
“Doing the 5K work” helped, Hocker said. “I have one of the best 5K runners in the world as my training partner, Cooper Teare. I think I helped him a lot on his lower-end speed and he helped me a lot on my long-distance strength.… Having that training partner helped so much.
“The 5K work was a deliberate decision. In 2022 I had the A standard in both events, then I got hurt two weeks before USAs. Last year I was hurt until five months out from USAs so I didn’t get to train that long. This is the first year it’s come together. I’ve trained the 5K, I’ve trained the 15, I’ve trained the 800.… This is the first year I’ve got to have it come together on the right day.”
The right day was the 1500 final and Hocker had shown he was prepared with a statement run in his heat, 3:34.54, and then a semi win.
In the decisive final Hocker hung on to the blistering pace set by Yared Nuguse, then blew past him with 250 meters to go. Hocker said that move represented a turning point.
“Today was a big stepping stone, for sure,” he said. “You could have told me this was a 3:35 and I would have believed it. I remember watching these races in years past, the pace 3:30-low, and seeing these guys accelerate. I hadn’t been able to accelerate on that pace. Today was the first day I’ve been able to shift gears at such a fast pace. That gives me so much confidence.”
That confidence leads to one obvious goal.
“In ‘21 I was happy to be” at the Olympics. “I’m happy to be there again but the bar is raised. I was happy with 6th place in the Olympics. Now it’s a medal.”