AMERICAN COLE Hocker produced a devastating finish in the home straight for an upset victory in the men’s Olympic 1500m in Paris tonight.
Hocker outsprinted defending champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway and Britain’s world champion Josh Kerr to take gold in an Olympic record of 3:27.65.
Kerr bagged silver in a national record of 3:27.79, while Ingebrigtsen came fourth after being passed by another American, Yared Nuguse, who clocked a personal best of 3:27.80.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who himself won two Olympic 1500m golds for Britain, had predicted that the final could be a “race for the ages” notably given the ever-increasing public rivalry between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr.
And so it proved, but not quite as Coe had foreseen as the unfancied Hocker stole the show with his late surge.
Kenya’s Brian Komen briefly held the lead in front of a 69,000-capacity crowd at the Stade de France before the Norwegian shot to the front of the pack at a cracking pace.
The field went through the opening 400 metres in 54.82sec, Kerr sat in third on Komen’s shoulder and alongside Kenya’s Timothy Cheriuyot, the 2019 world champion and silver medallist at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Ingebrigtsen surged just after the 800m mark, but Cheruiyot kept with him.
At the bell for the last lap, the pack had split into single file.
Kerr made his move at 600m, tracking Ingebrigtsen and pulling close as they came into the home straight.
Kerr kicked, but suddenly Hocker appeared on the inside to deliver a super finishing kick for a fantastic Olympic victory that no one, not least Coe, had predicted.
200m women’s final
Earlier in the evening, Gabby Thomas stormed to a brilliant victory in the women’s Olympic 200m to clinch the first major title of her career.
Thomas clocked 21.83 to win ahead of St. Lucia’s new 100m champion Julien Alfred, who timed 22.08. Thomas’ teammate Brittany Brown claimed bronze in 22.2.
Thomas, 27, a bronze medallist at the Tokyo Games three years ago, is the first American woman to win an Olympic short sprint title since childhood idol Allyson Felix won the 200m at the 2012 London Games.
St. Lucia’s Alfred had been hoping to clinch an Olympic sprint double after her dazzling win in the 100m on Saturday.
But Thomas, the fastest woman in the world this year over this distance, was in no mood to let her date with destiny slip.
The Harvard-educated sprinter exploded out of the blocks and ran a superb bend to open up a sizeable lead coming into the home straight.
The American’s strength and finishing power never looked like waning as she powered over the line to claim a deserved gold.
There was more hammer throw joy for Canada as world champion Camryn Rogers won the women’s competition with 76.97 metres.
Her victory came just 48 hours after teammate and fellow world champ Ethan Katzberg secured the men’s hammer gold. The pair embraced trackside, Rogers draped in a Canadian flag.
There was no surprise in the men’s long jump as multiple global medallist Miltiadis Tentoglou retained the men’s Olympic long jump title.
Tentoglou managed a best of 8.48 metres for his second gold, having also won at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock took silver with 8.36m while Italy’s Mattia Furlani claimed bronze, just 2cm adrift.
There was a second Olympic record on the night as Bahrain’s world champion Winfred Yavi won the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 8min 52.76sec.
Uganda’s defending champion Peruth Chemutai took silver in a national record of 8:53.34 and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich claimed bronze in 8:55.15.
American reigning champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol of the Netherlands set up a mouth-watering final in the women’s 400m hurdles.
The in-form pair each won their semi-finals to advance to the final scheduled for 7.25pm on Thursday.
It also means Bol remains on course in her audacious bid for treble gold, having already anchored the Dutch quartet to 4x400m mixed relay glory. Her third event will be the women’s 4x400m relay.
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