'He was on the list'- Cole Hocker salutes Emmanuel Wanyonyi following 1500m upset in Kingston

Cole Hocker tips his hat to Emmanuel Wanyonyi after 1500m upset in Kingston

'He was on the list'- Cole Hocker salutes Emmanuel Wanyonyi following 1500m upset in Kingston

Abigael Wafula 09:00 - 06.04.2025

Cole Hocker acknowledged Emmanuel Wanyonyi’s brilliance after the Kenyan outpaced the field in a thrilling 1500m showdown at the Grand Slam Track.

Reigning Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker has lauded Emmanuel Wanyonyi for the great execution of the 1500m at the Grand Slam Track first leg in Kingston, Jamaica.

Emmanuel Wanyonyi put up a masterclass performance, clocking an impressive 3:35.18 to cross the finish line first.

Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker came in second and third in respective times of 3:35.36 and 3:35.52. Cole Hocker admitted that he could not rule out Emmanuel since he is undeniably the best 800m runner in the world right now.

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The American 1500m ace revealed that his coach Ben Thomas, usually monitors Emmanuel Wanyonyi’s progress and warned him not to downplay him especially after his stunning performance in the 1500m at a previous Athletics Kenya weekend meet.

Cole Hocker revealed that he knew Emmanuel Wanyonyi would challenge for the win and he sure did. He also tipped the Kenyan to flourish in the 1500m going forward.

“Today was full of unknowns and I knew that would be a possibility and I’m not so naïve to write out a talent like that,” Cole Hocker said in an interview with Citius Mag.

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“The guy is the best 800m runner in the world so he’s going to be a good 1500m runner as well. You never know exactly how it’s going to go but I had a good idea who to watch for and he was on the list.

“I knew Wanyonyi was a good guy because me and my coach usually talk about him, lo and behold he came through but other than that, we kept the 800m guys out.”

Cole Hocker’s execution of the race

Cole Hocker revealed that he did not expect the race to turn out the way it did, lauding himself for holding on and eventually sealing the podium.

However, that was not the result he was going for and he noted that it is still early in the season and he is still putting a few things together.

“It was interesting how the race developed but I’m kind of happy with how I fought back and ended up in third. The rest of my race is still coming together,” Cole Hocker said.

“I know my time was not anywhere close to my PR but I came here to win and race and I did one of those and I think it was a learning curve for me.”

As he works on perfecting his 1500m, Cole Hocker has a new challenger, Emmanuel Wanyonyi who will be out to make an impact in every Slam.