Preview: Men's 1,500 Meters Final Holds Big Opportunity For Impressive Young Field

By David Woods for DyeStat

Kim Spir PHOTOS

INTERVIEWS

GLASGOW, Scotland – Will someone – perhaps Cole Hocker – try for a front-running gold medal Sunday night in the 1,500 meters?

That was the question following Friday’s first round at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. As if the race wouldn’t be cluttered enough already, two fallen runners were advanced into a 14-man final.

“I think it’s going to be an honest race,” Hocker said. “I want to make it that way, if no one else wants to.”

The United States’ rising stars, Hocker, 22, and Hobbs Kessler, 20, made the final. Even in a World Championship lacking Olympic contenders Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse, the field is formidable.

In a three-in-no-time-qualifier format, 21-year-old Vincent Keter of Kenya was fastest in 3:38.96 out of heat 4. Also making it from that heat were Kessler, 3:39.07, and New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish, 3:39.17, the next two fastest overall.

Winning heats impressively were Hocker, running a last 200 meters in 26.33 for 3:39.32, and Norway’s Narve Gilje Nordas, closing in 26.07 for 3:42.09.

Finalists feature these resumes:

>> Ethiopia’s Samuel Tefera is seeking a third straight gold medal after setting a championship record of 3:32.77 in beating Ingebrigtsen in 2022. He was third in Hocker’s heat in 3:39.66.

>> Kessler is world champion in the road mile.

>> Keter was under-20 World champion in 2021.

>>  Nordas was 2023 bronze medalist behind Kerr and Ingebrigtsen.

>> Beamish, a new steeplechaser, ran an 8:05.73 two-mile (with a 55.20 last 440) at the 116th Millrose Games to finish .03 behind third-place Hocker.

>> Spain’s Mario Garcia Romo was fourth at outdoor Worlds in 2022 and sixth in 2023. He is an On Athletics teammate of Beamish.

>> Spain’s Adel Mechaal was fifth at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

>> Great Britain’s Adam Fogg is coming off a fourth-place 3:49.62 mile at the 116th Millrose Games.

>> Four finalists – Hocker (Oregon), Garcia Romo (Mississippi), Beamish (Northern Arizona) and Canada’s Kieran Lumb (Washington) – ran at U.S. colleges. At 2023 Worlds, five of the top nine were nurtured in the NCAA system.

Fogg and Ethiopia’s 17-year-old Biniam Mehary were added to the final after falls.

Which brings us back to Hocker, who was sixth at Tokyo and seventh at 2023 Worlds. He called this a “different era” for the 1,500 while conceding customary pacesetters – without naming Ingebrigtsen or Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot – are absent.

Hocker said he reviewed film of previous World indoor 1,500s, as he did in reviewing previous nationals. There were a few “jogfests,” he said.

Other than Hocker, runners were circumspect about tactics.

Kessler: “I’m keeping that to myself. I’m excited. I want to medal. I want to prove I’m one of the best in the world.”

Nordas: “I hope somebody else is going to push the pace. I will not say too much.”

Keter: “I will need to find some more energy for that.”

When Hocker was asked whether he would be content with any medal, he said “my eyes are set on gold” and replied that would be something to address after the final. He is prepared for any element of racing -- slow and tactical, fast and furious.

“I feel it clicking more and more, every time I step on the track,” he said.

“Either end of the spectrum, I think I should be top of the field. I’m confident either way.”

Contact David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007