Superstar Ingebrigtsen goes completely blank in the rage duel
Norway's running star Jakob Ingebrigtsen surprisingly goes medal-less over 1500 meters, three years after winning gold in Tokyo. The 23-year-old dictates the race for a long time, but in the end, American Cole Hocker unexpectedly wins in Olympic record time.
When two fight, the third rejoices: Cole Hocker stole the show from Norway's wonder runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Britain's Josh Kerr, securing an unexpected Olympic gold in the 1500 meters. The American won the dramatic final in an Olympic record time of 3:27.65 minutes. Kerr (3:27.79) settled for silver, while Tokyo Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen (3:28.24) had to settle for fourth place behind Hocker's teammate Yared Nuguse (3:27.80) in a spectacular race.
Initially, all eyes were on the duel between the superstars Ingebrigtsen and Kerr. European champion Ingebrigtsen, who had missed out on his first World Championship title over 1500 meters against Kerr last year in Budapest, and his rival have exchanged verbal jabs in the past. Ingebrigtsen's accusation was that Kerr avoids competitions, including direct duels with him. For instance, the World Champion was absent in July at the European Championships in Rome.
Kerr wanted to give his answer on the track in Paris. In the semi-finals, both met and nearly crossed the finish line simultaneously - looking deep into each other's eyes on the last 20 meters. In the race for gold, Ingebrigtsen, who initially aimed for a gold double over 1500 and 5000 meters in Paris, confidently took the lead and maintained a high pace. Around 250 meters before the finish, Kerr attacked and could hope for gold on the home stretch. However, Hocker had the best final sprint.
Leipzig's Robert Farken narrowly missed the final by 32 hundredths of a second. The second German starter, Marius Probst, was eliminated in the repechage.
Despite Ingebrigtsen and Kerr's intense rivalry, the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris saw an unexpected turn of events. Cole Hocker outshone both, claiming the gold medal in the 1500 meters with an Olympic record time.
