SHORTLY AFTER DOMINATING the stellar 2-Mile field at the Millrose Games, Cole Hocker was savoring his first win at the iconic indoor meet. “Being able to compete with those guys and win in that field, these are moments in my career that I’m going to 100 percent look back on in the future,” the 24-year-old Indianapolis native said. “I want to be fully present in these moments.”
Hocker, of course, has already proved himself to be one of the world’s savviest and most successful racers in championship settings. At the 2024 Olympic 1500 final, he bided his time before a late charge took him past pre-race favorites Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr to claim gold in an Olympic record 3:27.65. While not quite an upset — Hocker had arrived in Paris among the top middle-distance runners in the world (he placed 6th at the Tokyo Olympics and 7th at the ’23 Worlds) — it certainly was a stunning result.
A little over a year later, at last September’s World Championships in Tokyo, his attempt to duplicate that feat was derailed after being disqualified in the 1500 semis for jostling down the homestretch. It was a devastating turn of events, but Hocker managed to regroup, and six days later he unleashed his sensational kick to take the 5000-meter title.
Hocker had sat only 12th at the bell in that race but calmly navigated his way through the pack before swinging wide off the final turn for yet another astonishing stretch run, covering his final 100 in 12.51 to cap a 52.62 last lap. His winning time (12:58.30) was not far off his PR (12:57.82 indoors at BU last winter). It was the third-fastest ever World Champs gold medal mark.
“That race, specifically, I think I ran perfectly,” he says. “Watching on film you see me going into the last lap and I’m in 11th or 12th place. But in my mind that’s just within striking distance. I can see the front, I know how I feel and I think I’m better when I’m hunting than when I’m trying to stretch it from the front.”
Still, it was a challenging experience. After the 1500 DQ Hocker spent a few days surrounded by family members and enjoying the sites of Tokyo to help clear his mind before refocusing for his secondary event. “I think that was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do in my career so far,” he says. “Because there are always things that don’t go your way. But when it’s on display, on the biggest stage of the year, it’s tough not to let that mess with your head.”
Now a global champion in two different events, Hocker’s confidence is soaring. “It’s getting harder and harder to shake me,” he says of his growing strength, which allows him the ability to negotiate the new reality of fast-paced championship races. “That could be your plan two years ago, when I was viewed as a sit-and-kick guy, but I don’t think you can really view me like that anymore. Pretty much, you’re gonna have to work pretty hard to break me now.”
But it’s not lost on Hocker that his record in Diamond League and invitational meets has been far less impressive, though he is typically in the mix. Last year he came up winless in three Grand Slam meets, then finished 7th in the Stockholm 5000 and 4th in the Prefontaine mile before the USATF Outdoor Championships. He accepts that these results can be a price to pay when prioritizing major championships. The Millrose win will certainly help to change that narrative.
“You really have to time things right in the sport and that’s something my coach has gotten right time and time again,” he says of Ben Thomas, who guided him to three NCAA titles during his time at Oregon and is now the head coach at Virginia Tech. “I hate to lose, probably more than I like to win.”
While there is no major outdoor championship this year, he is hoping to qualify for the World Indoor meet in both the 1500 and 3000.
“But this U.S. team, I say it every year, just gets harder and harder to make,” says Hocker, who took silver in the 1500 at World Indoors in Glasgow in 2024. “I have experience now, I feel like a lot more experience than just about any American at championship races. But that only gets you halfway there and you gotta be really fit and show up on the day and not make any tactical errors, either. Nothing’s guaranteed as an American athlete.”
He is also looking to lower his PRs on the circuit. “I feel like I’ve put times on the back burner the last couple of years to focus on the championship in late September,” he says. “This year gives me a little bit more opportunity to just go after something fast and think less about how I’m going to feel in September.”
