Sportsworld The Warm Up Track 2025: How Cole Hocker won Olympic 1500m gold
Cole discusses the era he's running in and how this period compares to what's gone before. He explains the impact that Steve Prefontaine had on him growing up, from watching videos of his races to drawing inspiration from his quotes. Bearing all of that in mind, Cole gives us a real insight into his decision to attend the University of Oregon in Eugene – meaning he'd be joining the same college track team which produced Prefontaine and so many others. What was it like to embrace that opportunity and the inevitable pressure that came with it?
Paris was Cole's second Olympic Games. Had Tokyo gone ahead as planned in 2020, he's doubtful he would have made the team. As it turned out, the delay caused by the pandemic meant that he was ready by the time the Games were staged in 2021. How was the journey through that year's US Trials all the way to the final in Tokyo, and how valuable were all of the lessons he learned?
Cole is a real student of the sport and takes us inside why the running community in the United States has always prized The Mile, and it's metric equivalent, so highly. He also discusses why he accepted the invitation to join the inaugural season of Grand Slam Track and, more generally, what he would like to see happen to grow the sport of Track and Field in the US ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Photo: Silver medalist Josh Kerr of Team Great Britain, gold medalist Cole Hocker of Team United States and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Team Norway cross the finish line during the Men's 1500m Final on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 06, 2024 in Paris, France (Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
24 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
NFL star drops bombshell trade hint and hits out at his team after missing out on the Super Bowl last season
Washington Commanders star Terry McLaurin has dropped a bombshell trade hint amid his contract standoff with the NFL side. McLaurin - who is viewed as one of the best wide receivers in the league - is entering the final year of his current deal with the Commanders, which he signed in 2022. The former Ohio State star has been a mainstay in the side since being drafted in 2019 but notably elevated his game last year, despite missing out on the Super Bowl. As a result, McLaurin, 29, feels as though he's done enough to earn a new deal and made that clear as he spoke to press on Tuesday afternoon. He said: 'I've been pretty frustrated, I'm not going to lie. Everything that has transpired up until this point has been disappointing and frustrating. 'I want to continue my career here. I've created my life here. My wife and I bought our first home here. This has been somewhere I've always wanted to be'. He later added: 'Without any progressive discussions, it's hard to see me stepping on the field.' McLaurin, 29, did not take part in the Commanders' minicamp in an attempt to make a statement to franchise chiefs over his contract impasse. Last season, McLaurin exploded into life and produced 1,096 receiving yards paired with a career-high 13 touchdowns for the Commanders. Despite the impressive performances, the franchise narrowly missed out on a place in the Super Bowl after losing the NFC Championship Game to the Philadelphia Eagles. McLaurin's bombshell statement comes just one day after New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson reached an agreement over a new four-year, $130million deal. For context, McLaurin signed a three-year contract extension worth $71 million - with a $28 million signing bonus - back in 2022. Wilson's new deal, which will see him bank an estimated $90m guaranteed, makes him the first receiver in NFL history to earn an average of over $31m per year after playing only three seasons in the league. ESPN was first to break the news of the 24-year-old's extension, which keeps him with the Jets through 2030. Wilson is gearing up for his fourth season in New York after being selected with the 10th overall pick in the first round of the 2022 draft.
Daily Mail
40 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Chiefs strike historic deal with Trey Smith as Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes ally agrees to stay
The Kansas City Chiefs have reached an agreement with Trey Smith over a new four-year, $94million contract just hours before Tuesday's franchise-tag deadline. According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Smith's new deal includes $70m guaranteed and makes him the highest-paid guard in NFL history. The 26-year-old is also set to earn the highest-average annual salary and most guaranteed money ever handed to a guard. With both Smith and Creed Humphrey in their ranks, Kansas City now has the highest-paid guard and center in the NFL after agreeing a record deal with the former. Humphrey, meanwhile, signed a four-year extension of his own worth $72m with $50m guaranteed in August 2024. The Chiefs had until 4pm Tuesday to reach an agreement with Smith after using their franchise tag on the two-time Super Bowl champion, thereby giving themselves of another year of control over him. More to follow.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Olympic cricket at LA 2028 set for 9am start times
LA 2028 organisers have slated matches at the Olympic cricket tournament to start at 09:00 in the morning to cater for lucrative television audiences in of the major factors behind cricket's return to the Games after a 128-year hiatus is the desire of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to tap into a lucrative South Asian media rights and sponsorship market. The six-team T20 tournament, featuring both men's and women's teams, will begin on Wednesday, 12 July - two days before the opening ceremony - with all matches staged at a venue which will be constructed at the Fairgrounds in will be two games played daily at Pomona - located 30 miles from the athletes' village in Los Angeles - starting at 09:00 and 18:30 Pacific Daylight matches will be shown at 21:30 and 07:00 India Standard Time (17:00 and 02:30 British Summer Time).The evening fixtures at the ground in Pomona will be played under floodlights. Kit McConnell, who oversaw cricket's return to the Games after a 128-year hiatus as the IOC's sports director, told BBC Sport organisers considered "core cricket markets in the subcontinent" when planning the tournament. "The vision the International Cricket Council (ICC) has outlined for us is aimed at providing the best players and the best teams on the Olympic stage," McConnell said."There's three years to go but now we're very excited about where cricket is, what it will bring to the Games and equally what the Olympics can offer to cricket and its global expansion as well." How will the Olympic cricket tournament work? BBC Sport understands the competition structure for cricket at the Olympics has now been agreed following meetings between the ICC, IOC and LA 2028 six participating teams will be divided into two groups of three with each team playing each other will then play two sides from the other pool, apart from those who were ranked in the same corresponding example, the winners of Group A will play the second and third-placed teams in Group B and from all four matches will then be used to determine final rankings with the top two sides playing in a final to decide the gold and silver medals. The teams who finish third and fourth will play off for matches will be played on 20 and 29 July with the women's and men's tournament set to run in separate slots rather than being played ICC is set to discuss how teams will qualify for LA 2028 at their Annual General Meeting in Singapore, starting on 17 members want T20 rankings to determine which teams go to Los Angeles but others have expressed a preference for qualifying England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Scotland have held talks to form a new entity called GB Cricket to oversee a team for LA. No repeat of New York pitch issues The IOC have given assurances there will not be a repeat of the pitch controversy which blighted showpiece games at last year's T20 World Cup in New York, which the USA 34,000-seat temporary stadium in Eisenhower Park looked impressive, but the drop-in pitches used for matches during the initial group stage, including the high-profile fixture between India and Pakistan, were subject to the venue in New York, which returned to use as a public park, the ground in Pomona is set to remain a cricket facility for permanent usage by Indian Premier League and Major League Cricket franchise owners Knight reported by The Cricketer,, external the IOC and ICC are in negotiations with the Knight Riders over installing a square as opposed to using drop-in surfaces."We're very conscious about the importance of the field of play and in the case of cricket, the pitch," McConnell added."Now that we have finalised the venue, we can move forward with all of those plannings in a more concrete sense."I don't think it's only the T20 World Cup. I think every cricket match has commentary about the pitch and what type of play it suits."
