Josh Kerr looked to follow up on Keely Hodgkinson’s brilliant gold in the 800m, but was pipped in the closing metres after a brilliant run by American Cole Hocker
Josh Kerr of Great Britain competes during the Men’s 1500m
Josh Kerr of Great Britain competes during the Men’s 1500m
Cole Hocker stunned the world to win the 1500m Olympic gold, with Josh Kerr winning silver and Jakob Ingebrigtsen missing out on a medal.
Ingebrigtsen immediately hit the front with Kerr more than happy to sit in the slipstream. And Kerr then hit the front in the closing stages and looked destined to become Britain’s latest track and field Olympic champion.
But with all focus on the two biggest rivals in track sports, it was the lesser-known American who produced an incredible final stretch to win gold with a new Olympic record.
A photo finish was needed to determine the places behind Hocker and Kerr ultimately finished second with a new national record, while Ingebrigtsen – the former Olympic champion – was pipped by American Yared Nuguse to miss out on a medal altogether.
Kerr promised to run the ‘most vicious 1500m ever’ and he would have expected that if he beat Ingebrigtsen he would be taking home gold. And for much of the showpiece final, it looked like a two-horse race, but as so many experts had warned, this was a stacked field that included so much more than the two headline acts.
BBC commentator – and former silver medallist at 1500m – Steve Cram summed up the race: “Stunned. Shocked. The Olympic champion is from the USA.
“Josh Kerr did his best but in trying to go with Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Ingebrigtsen tried to run away from Kerr and the two of them tried to destroy each other. By destroying each other, Cole Hocker stepped up. Wow.”
USA’s Cole Hocker celebrates winning the Men’s 1500m Final as Great Britain’s Josh Kerr and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen look on
Kerr was hoping to follow in the footsteps of Keely Hodgkinson after she kicked off GB’s athletics programme with a sensational gold in the women’s 800m final on Tuesday night. Hodgkinson, like Kerr, arrived to the French capital as one of the pre-game favourites and lived up to her billing with a dominant victory at the Stade de France.
This was never likely to be as much of a procession, with not only Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, but a stacked field full of world class competitors. The result means the Team GB runner now has an Olympic bronze and silver, missing the colour he still wants most.
He told Eurosport: “I’m so proud of myself, I executed today the best 1500 metre race I’ve ever done in my life on the biggest stage by over a second.
“It’s difficult to control what anyone else does in these situations but I controlled myself, I positioned myself well to win and go after medals and I did that and it wasn’t enough over the last 20 or 30 metres.
“I got beaten by the better man on the day and I have to walk away from these championships with my head held high.”
Jakob Ingebrigtsen missed out on a medal after setting the pace for much of the race
For Ingebrigtsen, a runner who has often divided opinion with his outspoken antics, offered a very gracious summary of the race, admitting he hit the wall too early.
He told the BBC: “My plan was to win. Didn’t go according to plan but I felt very strong in the first couple of laps and that’s why I had difficulty telling the pace because it was quite fast.
“It was difficult to slow down and kind of reduce myself a little bit. I was starting to get a little bit of gap so kept on pushing but it was just 100m too long today.”
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