Men's 1500 Meter Finals Were CRAZY __ Cole Hocker V. Josh Kerr _ Jakob Ingebrigtsen - Paris Olympics
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Alright everyone, it is the race that we have all been waiting for all season.
00:08It is the Men's 1500m Olympic Finals taking place in Paris, France.
00:13This is one of the most hyped and anticipated races of the Games so far, and the reason
00:18that this is such a huge event is because of two superstars in the 1500.
00:24These athletes are Josh Kerr from Great Britain and Jakob Ingebrigtsen from Norway.
00:29You really could not have created a more perfect script for this event even if you tried.
00:34We've got the defending Olympic champion in Jakob Ingebrigtsen, we have the defending
00:38world champion in Josh Kerr, we've got a stacked field behind these two amazing athletes,
00:44and there has been a decent amount of trash talk going on in 2024.
00:49Now here are the current standings for the world's fastest athletes this season in
00:53the 1500m.
00:54As you can see, we have a total of 4 athletes under 3.30 this year, and we also have 9 runners
01:00under 3.31, but the man up front, with a massive gap over everyone else, is Ingebrigtsen from
01:06Norway.
01:07With a season's best time of 3.26.73, he has almost 2 entire seconds over the next
01:14closest athlete in Timothy Chariot from Kenya, and with this kind of performance, he is now
01:19one of only 4 men to ever break 3.27.
01:24This time should realistically give him a massive advantage, both physically and psychologically,
01:29and for some, this huge world lead does make him the favorite for this Olympic final.
01:34However, there are many who believe that Josh Kerr from Great Britain is still the man to
01:39beat, given his super elite abilities to compete when it comes to a global final.
01:44Now earlier this year, Kerr went on a tear, breaking the 2 mile indoor world record and
01:49winning the world championships for the Indoor 3000, and after his indoor season, he stated
01:53that he firmly believes that he is the best in the world in the 1500 on a single day.
01:59And that day, of course, is either the world championships or the Olympic finals.
02:04I truly believe I'm better on one single day than he is.
02:08And you know, when the lights are on and the pressure's on, I'm just a better athlete.
02:12Come the Olympic final, I'm going to be there and I'm going to be a real problem.
02:15And well, today is that day.
02:18Also, this is something that many people have pointed out recently that could lead to something
02:22crazy, and that is that Josh Kerr looks more thin and more fit than he has ever looked
02:28before, appearing far more lean than any other moment in his career.
02:32So perhaps this elite distance runner build will grant him the ability to jump in and
02:37throw down an unstoppable time.
02:39Now in addition to Kerr and Ingebrigtsen, this field is stacked with world greats.
02:43We've got Cole Hawker from the US, who has looked smooth and strong this year.
02:47We've got Yardan Agus from the US, a 3.43 miler who is always looking dangerous.
02:52We've got Hobbs Kessler, a 1.43 800 meter runner who is only looking more and more fast
02:58by the day.
02:59And we have Timothy Chariot and Brian Komen from Kenya, two East African speedsters who
03:04definitely appear to be fit.
03:06Now as many people expected, the greater audience certainly has Josh Kerr and Ingebrigtsen as
03:11the two favorites.
03:12And in our most recent poll, this is incredibly evident, as Ingebrigtsen currently holds a
03:17pretty strong lead, with Josh Kerr also standing strong in second.
03:21This chart looks strikingly similar to what we saw from the Men's 100 predictions just
03:26a few days ago, so perhaps being the favorite on these polls does actually mean something.
03:32No matter what happens in this year's 1500 finals, someone will be going home devastated
03:37and someone will be going home as the king.
03:40And no matter what tactics play out or what racing strategies the athletes employ, we
03:45will have a definitive 1500 meter champion today.
03:48So now, without further ado, let's head to the track and see how this Men's 1500 finals
03:54unfolded.
04:00Now kicking off the opening lap of this 1500 meter final was Jakob Ingebrigtsen pushing
04:05the pace very, very fast up front.
04:08And through the opening 400 meters, he split a time of 54.9.
04:13This was actually well ahead of world record pace.
04:17And as 800 meters approached, they did slow down slightly, but at 151.5, they were still
04:23flying.
04:24At this point in the race, Ingebrigtsen was still leading, with Timothy Chariot, Josh
04:28Kerr, Yaron Nagus, Cole Hawker, and Hobbs Kessler all within one second of Ingebrigtsen
04:33up front.
04:34And this bunching up front proved that almost anyone was still set to win an Olympic medal.
04:39And it's also important to mention that through 1200, we actually had 11 separate
04:43athletes running under 250.
04:46So this was a very balanced race.
04:48Now over this final 400, Ingebrigtsen was still pushing the pace, and with 200 meters
04:53to go, he was still in the lead.
04:55But then something incredible happened.
04:57Josh Kerr pushed to the front, gapped Ingebrigtsen, but then on the inside, with the kick of the
05:03day, was Cole Hawker, winning this race in 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds, breaking the Olympic
05:10record and improving on his own personal record by about 3 seconds.
05:13I'm not gonna lie, I might have jumped out of my chair a little bit.
05:17I might have screamed.
05:18I might have sprinted through my house a little.
05:19I don't know.
05:20This was just crazy.
05:21Cole Hawker was the person that people thought could challenge Kerr and Ingebrigtsen.
05:26But most people still gave Ingebrigtsen and Kerr the nod.
05:29But with an amazing final 400 that will live on forever, Cole Hawker is your 2024 Olympic
05:35champion.
05:36Now rounding out the top 3 was Josh Kerr in 2nd, and Yard Naguse in 3rd, incredibly placing
05:43Jakob Ingebrigtsen out of the medals in 4th place.
05:47This was an absolutely unforgettable Olympic final.
05:51And I do want to give Ingebrigtsen credit.
05:53He did push the pace early, and he took a very brave path to potentially break everyone
05:57else in the field.
05:59However, that was not to happen on this day, and in this race we had many great records
06:03set.
06:04Cole Hawker broke the Olympic record, Kerr broke the national record, Naguse set a PB,
06:08Hobs Kessler set a PB, Niels Laaros from the Netherlands set a national record, Pietro
06:12Arese from Italy also set a national record, and Narvin Nouros and Stefan Nielsen also
06:17set a season's best and a personal best.
06:20I need to be honest, this was one of the most exciting and greatest 1500s that I have ever
06:25seen, and Cole Hawker wins this race like an absolute legend.
06:31That statistical breakdown of his kick played out to perfection in this final.
06:35Thanks for watching everyone, and as always, until next time.