Latest news with #Hocker
NBC Sports
13 hours ago
- General
- NBC Sports
Cole Hocker wants to follow Olympic gold with two more career firsts in 2025
Naturally, Cole Hocker wants to follow his 2024 Olympic gold medal by taking the world title this September, but that's not his only goal this summer. Hocker, who last Aug. 6 became the second American in the last 116 years to win an Olympic 1500m, was asked what would make 2025 a successful follow-up campaign. 'World champion,' he said without hesitation. 'That's, without a doubt, the goal. To go back to back in what I think is one of the most competitive eras that the 1500m has ever seen, that would make it a success without a doubt. Obviously, fast times are always in the cards, and I want to run fast, but most importantly, I want to win.' Beyond winning, the 23-year-old has sights set on another event. 'Also making the U.S. team in the 5k alongside the 1500m, I think that would be a huge step in the right direction for my career,' said Hocker, who was seventh in the Olympic Trials 5000m in his fifth total race of that meet. No American has competed in both the 1500m and 5000m at an Olympics or World Championships since Bernard Lagat, who won both events at the 2007 Worlds and took silver and bronze in 2009. Elle St. Pierre did qualify for both events for the 2024 Paris Games but dropped the 5000m to focus on the 1500m. To make his double happen, Hocker will most likely have to place in the top three in both events at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships from July 31-Aug. 3 at his old college home in Eugene, Oregon. Unlike Olympic Trials, he would only have to race three times at nationals. In the 1500m, the U.S. has developed depth over the last few years, just as the world has. At nationals, Hocker must deal with Olympic bronze medalist Yared Nuguse, Hobbs Kessler (fifth in Paris) and possibly emerging talents like Jonah Koech, who won a Diamond League race last week. In the 5000m, Olympic bronze medalist Grant Fisher was the lone American to finish in the top eight at either the 2023 Worlds or the Paris Games. Hocker, who trains under Virginia Tech coach Ben Thomas, will be race tested like never before thanks to the new Grand Slam Track series. He has faced both Nuguse and Olympic silver medalist Josh Kerr of Great Britain at three meets already this season. Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Tokyo Olympic champion, hasn't raced since March 23 while recovering from an Achilles injury. In six total 1500m races since Paris, Hocker has finished second, third, third, third, third and second. Hocker's gold medal — won with a kick from third place in the last 100 meters — sits on a dresser in his room. No fancy display case. 'From what I've experienced and what I've gotten, you put feelings and emotions onto this object,' he said. 'I try to detach myself from that and just let it be a mark of what a beautiful season I put together. Look at the full season as almost like a work of art. That was a perfect season for me. So I feel like the gold medal for me is just that all encapsulated into an object, but I hate to give any object too much value.' Nick Zaccardi,
RTHK
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTHK
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at track meet
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at track meet Jefferson-Wooden set the world lead with her 10.73-second 100m dash. Photo: AFP US sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden clocked a world-leading 10.73sec as she stormed to an emphatic victory in the 100m at the Philadelphia Grand Slam Track meeting. The 24-year-old from South Carolina, a bronze medallist in the 100m at the Paris Olympics last year, scorched home ahead of Tamari Davis, who was second in 11.03sec. Thelma Davies was third in 11.14sec while Olympic 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas – beaten by Jefferson-Wooden in Saturday's 200m – was fourth. Jefferson-Wooden's time vaults her into elite company as one of the 10 fastest women over 100m in history. "It means everything, I've been working so hard for this," a delighted Jefferson-Wooden said afterwards. "I've been learning so many new things about myself the way I go about training, the way I go about being disciplined, even when I'm not feeling my best, " she added. "It's just all coming together." Jefferson-Wooden's time was only fractionally outside Julien Alfred's winning time in the 100m at the Olympics last year, and suggests the American will be one of the favourites for gold at this year's World Championships in Tokyo, provided she qualifies at next month's US trials in Eugene. In other races on Sunday, Britain's Josh Kerr avenged his Olympic 1,500m defeat to Cole Hocker in a thrilling battle. Hocker famously surged past Kerr to claim a shock victory in Paris last August at the Stade de France and take gold. But on Sunday it was Kerr's turn to produce a decisive finish, storming past Hocker in the final few metres to win in 3min 34.44sec. (AFP)
France 24
3 days ago
- Sport
- France 24
Jefferson-Wooden scorches to 100m win at Grand Slam Track meet
The 24-year-old from South Carolina, a bronze medallist in the 100m at the Paris Olympics last year, scorched home ahead of Tamari Davis, who was second in 11.03sec. Thelma Davies was third in 11.14sec while Olympic 200m gold medallist Gabby Thomas -- beaten by Jefferson-Wooden in Saturday's 200m -- was fourth. Jefferson-Wooden's time vaults her into elite company as one of the 10 fastest women over 100m in history. "It means everything, I've been working so hard for this," a delighted Jefferson-Wooden said afterwards. "I've been learning so many new things about myself the way I go about training, the way I go about being disciplined, even when I'm not feeling my best. "It's just all coming together." Jefferson-Wooden's time was only fractionally outside Julien Alfred's winning time in the 100m at the Olympics last year, and suggests the American will be one of the favourites for gold at this year's World Championships in Tokyo, provided she qualifies at next month's US trials in Eugene. In other races on Sunday, Britain's Josh Kerr avenged his Olympic 1,500m defeat to Cole Hocker in a thrilling battle. Hocker famously surged past Kerr to claim a shock victory in Paris last August at the Stade de France and take gold. But on Sunday it was Kerr's turn to produce a decisive finish, storming past Hocker in the final few metres to win in 3min 34.44sec.
NBC Sports
4 days ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Melissa Jefferson-Wooden runs historic 100m time at Grand Slam Track Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA — Melissa Jefferson-Wooden moved into a tie for 10th place on the all-time women's 100m list by running 10.73 seconds at a Grand Slam Track meet Sunday. Jefferson-Wooden, the Olympic 100m bronze medalist, improved her previous best time of 10.80 from the 2024 Olympic Trials. Now she's tied as the 10th-fastest woman in history globally, the fifth-fastest American ever and the second-fastest active American behind training partner Sha'Carri Richardson (personal best 10.65). Jefferson-Wooden also ran a personal best in the 200m on Saturday, clocking 21.99 and winning that race over Olympic 200m gold medalist Gabby Thomas. GRAND SLAM TRACK: Full Results The Grand Slam Track season concludes with the fourth meet in Los Angeles the last weekend of June, live on Peacock. In other events Sunday, Kenny Bednarek won the men's 100m in 9.86 seconds, shaving one hundredth off his personal best and matching the world's best time this year. Bednarek, a two-time Olympic 200m silver medalist, is the only man or woman to go 6-0 in races through the first three Grand Slams. Jamaican Ackera Nugent completed a sweep of the 100m hurdles and flat 100m by clocking 11.11 seconds in Sunday's flat race in the short hurdles group. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was runner-up in 11.21 against a field of 100m hurdles specialists. It marked her first flat 100m race since 2018, when she ran a wind-aided 11.07 as a University of Kentucky freshman. McLaughlin-Levrone, who won the 400m hurdles and flat 400m at the first two Slams, is likely to switch to the 200m/400m group for the last Slam in Los Angeles. She expects to race either the flat 400m or the 400m hurdles at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships in August, where she will bid to make the team for September's World Championships in Tokyo. In Sunday's 1500m, Josh Kerr overtook Cole Hocker in the final straightaway in a duel between the Olympic silver and gold medalists. Kerr crossed the finish line all the way out in lane six in 3:34:44, while Hocker in lane five was seven hundredths behind. Hocker has finished second, third, third, third, third and second in his six 1500m races since winning Olympic gold in Paris. Nick Zaccardi,
San Francisco Chronicle
26-05-2025
- Sport
- San Francisco Chronicle
Runner Yared Nuguse has pet tortoise, Olympic bronze medal and dreams of one day being orthodontist
A middle-distance runner nicknamed 'The Goose' has a pet tortoise named Tyro who hangs out in a terrarium. That seems almost like a whimsical scene from the pages of a Dr. Seuss book. Yared Nuguse embraces the irony of having his reptilian friend, who serves as a reminder to take each step slow and steady, no matter how fast things speeds up. These days, Nuguse has found the ideal tempo between track and not track. On the running front, he's speedier than ever, setting the world indoor mile record over the winter — it was broken five days later — and winning a bronze medal in the 1,500 meters at the Paris Olympics last summer. He's at peace in his personal life, too, and publicly came out as gay in a social media post in March. It was an important step in 'just being completely comfortable with myself and anything I want to do," he said. 'I've found this balance where everything's just generally feeling pretty good and going pretty well,' added Nuguse, who races in the 800 and 1,500 meters at Grand Slam Track's next stop in Philadelphia this weekend. 'If I take a step back and just really remember what you're doing is running for fun, it makes it feel a lot less stressful.' Nuguse, an aspiring orthodontist Teeth, not track, have long been part of his career path, with Nuguse's goal to one day become an orthodontist. It's just that his success in racing caused a detour from dental school. It was only through word of mouth that he even wound up in the track sphere. He grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, where his high school gym teacher spotted his running potential and recommended him to the track coach. Nuguse ran his first-ever mile in roughly 5 minutes, 30 seconds. His senior year he won the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter races at the Kentucky Class AAA track championships. Nuguse attended Notre Dame, where he majored in biochemistry, planning for dental school, as he excelled in cross country and track. In 2019, he captured the 1,500 at the NCAA championships. Two years later, he finished runner-up to Cole Hocker at the same meet. Nuguse also qualified that season for the U.S. Olympic trials, where he took third and earned a spot to the Tokyo Games. He put dentistry aspirations on the back burner when he made Team USA. 'I'm like, 'Maybe this is something I can continue doing?'' said Nuguse, who didn't race in Tokyo because of a quad injury. 'I figured running can't wait, but dental school can." Bronze medal in Paris Last summer at the Paris Games, Nuguse was in the medal mix in the 1,500 heading into the home stretch. The race was billed as a showdown between British runner Josh Kerr and Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen. But Hocker and Nuguse crashed the party, with Hocker surging past Kerr for the win and Nuguse closing fast to beat out Ingebrigtsen for the bronze. It was part of a memorable showing by the American distance core, with Grant Fisher capturing bronze in the 5,000 and 10,000. Kenneth Rooks also took silver in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. 'A lot of us aren't afraid to tangle it up with people who have been considered the best at these longer distance events,' Nuguse said. 'That's what makes track so much fun — having new things happen.' World indoor mile record Nuguse, who earned 'The Goose' nickname as a play on his last name, trains under coach Dathan Ritzenhein in Boulder, Colorado. He is participating in Grand Slam Track's new league, building toward U.S. championships later this summer and, should things go well, world championships in Tokyo in September. His speed was certainly on display three months ago at the Millrose Games in New York, where Nuguse broke the world indoor mark for the mile by finishing in 3:46.63. He eclipsed the record of 3:47.01 set by Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia in March 2019. 'It just felt really good, honestly,' said Nuguse, who celebrated with a night of karaoke, including his favorite Taylor Swift tune, 'You Belong With Me.' His world record lasted five days; Ingebrigtsen broke it by 1.49 seconds at a race in France. 'I don't think it's the last time we'll see the world record broken," said Nuguse, who is sponsored by the shoe and apparel company On. Family life Family fuels Nuguse. He's the fourth of six children of Alem and Mana, who are from Tigray, a war-torn region in northern Ethiopia. 'We've talked like a little bit about it,' Nuguse said of his parents' path to the U.S., where they arrived at different times in the 1980s before settling in Kentucky. 'My parents were always just working hard to provide the best futures for their kids. I've been fortunate.' Nuguse's announcement In late March, Nuguse introduced the world to his boyfriend by sharing a series of photos on Instagram. 'That post was more important for myself than it was for telling people,' the 25-year-old said. 'I'm OK with everyone knowing now. I can be more at peace because I'm continuing to accept myself and every funny little part of me.' 'He's a great little guy,' said Nuguse, who's had him for nearly four years. Nuguse appreciates the contrast. 'Fast man, slow animal,' Nuguse cracked. 'I like the idea he absorbs my slow energy. Although, he's very fast himself — when he's motivated.'
