The Warm Up Track 2025: How Cole Hocker won Olympic 1500m gold

Cole Hocker won Olympic 1500m gold in Paris. He describes in depth how the last lap of the race unfolded and how he claimed the greatest victory of his career.

Cole discusses the era he’s running in and how this period compares to what’s gone before. He explains the impact that Steve Prefontaine had on him growing up, from watching videos of his races to drawing inspiration from his quotes. Bearing all of that in mind, Cole gives us a real insight into his decision to attend the University of Oregon in Eugene – meaning he’d be joining the same college track team which produced Prefontaine and so many others. What was it like to embrace that opportunity and the inevitable pressure that came with it?

Paris was Cole’s second Olympic Games. Had Tokyo gone ahead as planned in 2020, he’s doubtful he would have made the team. As it turned out, the delay caused by the pandemic meant that he was ready by the time the Games were staged in 2021. How was the journey through that year’s US Trials all the way to the final in Tokyo, and how valuable were all of the lessons he learned?

Cole is a real student of the sport and takes us inside why the running community in the United States has always prized The Mile, and it’s metric equivalent, so highly. He also discusses why he accepted the invitation to join the inaugural season of Grand Slam Track and, more generally, what he would like to see happen to grow the sport of Track and Field in the US ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Photo: Silver medalist Josh Kerr of Team Great Britain, gold medalist Cole Hocker of Team United States and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Team Norway cross the finish line during the Men's 1500m Final on day eleven of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on August 06, 2024 in Paris, France (Credit: Corbis via Getty Images)