ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND, September 05 — Rain and cold (62F/17C) might have driven away the chance of most major records, along with a few of the fans, but the athletes showed up for the 63rd running of the Weltklasse in Stadion Letzigrund and delivered an evening of great competition to the hardy aficionados who dressed for the weather.
The much-ballyhooed 1500 brought together all three of the Paris medalists, with Cole Hocker hoping to parlay his Olympic gold into a win on the circuit, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen looking to see what his 3000 WR shape translated to for half the distance. Instead, the story was Yared Nuguse winning his first race since the Penn Relays.
The contest began in the usual fashion, with rabbits leading in 55.61 as behind them, Ingebrigtsen lagged a few strides behind, with Nuguse, Josh Kerr, Timothy Cheruiyot and Hocker following. On the next lap Hocker moved ahead of Cheruiyot, but otherwise no major changes. At 800 (1:51.17), Elliot Giles, who set the road mile WR last week, took over as the second pacesetter.
Giles stayed in it till the bell, with Ingebrigtsen nearly clipping him to get past. One of the race’s turning points had happened just before that moment, when Kerr started slipping away from Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse, and Hocker didn’t have the strength to go around him so slipped back as well. The Norwegian led past 1200 in 2:48.07 but could not shake Nuguse. Coming off the final turn, the bronze medalist struck, fighting past Ingebrigtsen on the stretch and racing to the win, 3:29.21–3:29.52. Nuguse closed in 13.1 for the final 100 on a 55.1 last lap. Hocker, lacking his usual finish and kicking from too far back, salvaged 3rd in 3:30.46 over Dutch teen Niels Laros (3:31.23) and Kerr (3:31.46).
Said Nuguse, “I knew that it was going to be quick in the end. Anyone could have won this race. I just tried not to make any wrong moves and to be where I wanted to be. And then you need to be ready for the end.”
Ingebrigtsen, who said the day before that he had been sick after his 3000 record and wasn’t up to par, judged, “My race was better than I expected. I still have not recovered. It was worth it to come here and race. But one more week of recovery would have been better for me and given me more stimulation.” He added, “Brussels will…
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