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…
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