From cycling in Switzerland to altitude training in Albuquerque to world records and badly timed illnesses, the world’s top 1500m men have had varied journeys en route to the Weltklasse
Since the epic Olympic 1500m final in Paris, gold medallist Cole Hocker has been cycling and running in the mountains of Switzerland. Josh Kerr went back into training in Albuquerue. Similarly, Yared Nuguse returned to the United States before coming back to Europe to race in the Düsseldorf road mile last weekend. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, meanwhile, enjoyed a revenge victory over Hocker in Lausanne, smashed the long-standing world 3000m record in Silesia and then came down with an infection.
Ahead of the Weltklasse in Zurich on Thursday (Sept 5), the world’s top four metric milers have literally been hunting high and low for some late-season success.
At the pre-event press conference at the Letzigrund Stadium around 30 hours before their much-anticipated race there weren’t any fireworks but there was definitely some simmering tension in the air.
Most notably, when Kerr and Ingebrigtsen were put on the spot to list their rival’s best quality, the Brit said: “His dress sense.”
Was Kerr being sarcastic? Possibly, but it was hard to tell. Either way, Ingebrigtsen seemed oblivious to any hidden meaning and retaliated with a ‘nice answer’ of his own by saying Kerr was “able to make his best race when it really matters”.
For fans of trash talk, that was about as spicy as it got. The biggest news, however, was Ingebrigtsen revealing that this week’s reports in the Norwegian media were true and that, yes, he had suffered from “an infection” following his world 3000m record on August 25.
Cole Hocker (Getty)
“Everybody told me that I was not supposed to be here or that I shouldn’t be here,” he said, “but I’ve been looking forward to all of my races after Paris.
“Lausanne and Silesia are equally as important for me as any race. Of course, I want to do as good as I can to show up and hopefully get a good race but sometimes the preparation is not always perfect. So it’s been a little on and off in trying to do the best that I could with rest.
“I know that I was good in Silesia and felt pretty good a couple days after. Still, it’s a setback. What it means? I don’t know but I’m here and I’m going to spend the next hours wisely and hopefully be as good as I can tomorrow.”
Olympic 1500m final (Getty)
Kerr appeared quietly confident (although when does he ever look anything else?) after a short training block at altitude. He has also recently visited young athletes at his club in Edinburgh to “put something back into the sport” ahead of his first race since Paris.
Hocker, meanwhile, looked relaxed and looks to be enjoying his status as Olympic champion. In recent days he says it’s been good to be reunited with his long-time training partner Cooper Teare, the American having raced at humble low-key meets in Bury and Stirling in the UK while Hocker has been riding the post-Olympic wave.
Hocker confirmed the cycling sessions that have been spotted on his SOVA YouTube channel are not a one-off either. He told AW he does around two to four hours of cycling each week and that cross-training generally is an important part of his training. He also swims regularly to complement his running workouts and says he really enjoys cycling – with an on-off love affair with watching the Tour de France – and he has a friend who helps give him access to top-quality cycling equipment.
READ MORE: Top 10 highlights at the Zurich Weltklasse
On Thursday night the men’s 1500m in Zurich will be won on two legs not wheels, though. The pace is expected to be fierce with Elliot Giles, who broke the world mile record ahead of Nuguse last weekend, the ‘second pacemaker’. Could we even see the runners get close to Hicham El Guerrouj’s world record of 3:26.00?
If the Olympic final was the metric mile of the century, then this is the sequel.
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