It is a game of both worlds; one race finished with a shocker; the other ended with pure dominance.
Cole Hocker made America proud again by pulling off the upset of the Olympic track meet Tuesday night by outracing famous Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr to clinch the gold medal in the 1,500 meters.
American Gabby Thomas took over the women’s 200 meters shortly after, ending it in 21.83 seconds to add gold to the bronze she clinched in the event at the last Olympics.
Hocker won the 1,500 meters in an Olympic-record 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds, where he moved from fifth to first over the final 300 meters, defeating his personal best by more than 3 seconds. He won Kerr by.14 seconds, while Ingebrigtsen, who set the pace through the first 1,200 meters, ended in fourth despite moving faster than his Olympic record set in Tokyo. American Yared Nuguse also set a personal best to clinch the bronze.
Hocker’s win was the first U.S. victory in the metric mile since Matt Centrowitz took gold in 2016. This will be America’s first time it will have put two men on the podium for the 1,500m since the Stockholm Games in 1912.
Hocker decided around the 100-meter mark to glide past Kerr and take the late lead with a narrow opening along the inside of Lane 1. He described it as a spur-of-the-moment decision when asked about the move. The race had been billed as a showdown between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, with the Norwegian setting a hot pace as he led coming into the last 200 meters.
Ingebrigtsen darted to the front quickly and ran there for the first 3½ laps, while Kerr moved between second and third, preparing for a potential slingshot past Ingebrigtsen against the closing stretch, much like he did last year to secure gold at the world championships.
Meanwhile, Hocker, at 5-foot-9½ and more than 3½ inches shorter than the top two contenders, almost looked like he was trying to photobomb the end of the race. He snuck up on the inside once, only to be stopped by Ingebrigtsen, then tried another one with about 50 meters left, passed them both, and crossed the line with his arms outstretched and a look of unbelievability before thumping his chest two times in celebration.
Hocker was listed as a 30-1 long shot for this race.
Thomas led at the curve and was never fought down the stretch, ending well ahead of 100-meter champion Julien Alfred of St. Lucia, who was 0.25 seconds behind at 22.08. Thomas has a master’s in public health, got her head with both hands, and won.
Brittany Brown, who played for the U.S., won the bronze in 22.20, just 0.02 seconds behind Dina Asher-Smith of Britain, who was another hundredth of a second behind her teammate Daryll Neita.
The Americans have claimed two golds out of three sprints so far on the purple track at Stade de France. Thomas followed Noah Lyles in the men’s 100 to the top step of the podium.
Thomas came in as the favorite, especially after winning world champion Shericka Jackson of Jamaica stepped out with an apparent injury. Thomas enrolled at the University of Texas after earning her degree at Harvard in neurobiology and global health, where she got a master’s in public health while also doubling down on her track training.
Thomas set a six-year plan with the long-term goal of competing in the Paris Olympics. She worked to qualify for Tokyo three years ago, not wanting the Paris Games to be her first Olympics, where she earned a third-place finish in the 200, a silver medal in the 4×100 relay, and invaluable experience.
She has been given another opportunity for a medal as part of the 4×100 relay team, which could be in the final on Saturday.