BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — They have been bickering among themselves for three years now. The best part of it is, nobody really knows who’s right, who’s wrong and, most importantly, who’s going to win whenever they step onto the track to let their running do the talking.
The latest chapter in the most intriguing show in track and field — the men’s 1,500 meters — takes place Sunday at the Ultimate Championship, with the winner getting a check for $150,000.
Will it be Josh Kerr, the new mile world-record holder from Scotland?
Or Cole Hocker, the American who barged his way into this conversation with a shocker of a win two years ago at the Paris Olympics?
Or Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian who seems to have an opinion about everything?
Another possible answer is “none of the above,” which, as eighth-ranked Isaac Nader’s win at world championships last year proved, is completely possible in this unpredictable event.
But back to the fighting.
“We have to have an open dialogue and communication on things we feel are right or wrong,” Ingebrigtsen explained Friday night after beating Hocker in the 5,000 meter race that seems like an undercard, even though those two square off there frequently, as well. “And if opening your mouth is creating a war or creating a fight, then that’s not my problem.”
Here’s a brief timeline of track’s best soap opera, starting with the most recent development.
Blowup in Brussels over pacesetters
Up until this year, Hocker had mostly been a silent bystander in a feud between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr. That tension was the entire story heading into Paris, and when Hocker barged through on the inside to win the gold medal, everyone was stunned.
But Ingebrigtsen brought Hocker into the fray two weeks ago after a Diamond League race in Brussels, when he confronted him. He called the Americans “cowards,” accusing them of playing games with the pacemakers for the 1,500 meters, which resulted in a slower, more “tactical” race than Ingebrigtsen expected. Neither runner finished on the podium.
Hocker has been trying to move on. Asked after the 5,000 on Friday if he respected Ingebrigtsen or thought Ingebrigtsen respected him, Hocker said “I’m not going to try to guess what he thinks of us.”
“I think everyone on the start line for a global final deserves a lot of respect and you can have opinions on the race and how it goes,” Hocker said.
Calling out Kerr for missing European Championships
The disagreement with Hocker came just as Ingebrigtsen’s latest flare-up involving Kerr seemed to be dying down.
Kerr passed on the 1,500 this season, which is the distance for most four-lap races in elite track, to pursue the world record in the slightly longer and more iconic mile.
Kerr ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds at a Diamond League meet in London in July to break Hicham El Guerrouj’s 27-year-old record. He also won the mile at the Commonwealth Games. He did not, however, compete at European Championships, which staged a 1,500-meter race. Ingebrigtsen was not pleased.
“I definitely think it is ruining the sport if we are not participating,” he said. “We all have different plans, but I could never see myself in that position.”
Kerr received a special invitation to run the 1,500 this week and extended his season by six weeks to accept.
“Always under criticism,” Kerr said. “What’s been fun for me about this process is this is still an individual sport. It’s not a sport where we’re forced into certain racing strategies. Every person’s different and every athlete’s different in the way they approach the season.”
A history of showmanship, trash talk
Funny enough, a lot of the history between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr began on the very track they’re set to run on Sunday night.
At the 2023 world championships in Budapest, much was made of Ingebrigtsen’s gesturing to the fans as he hit the homestretch in a semifinal and then, almost casually, cruising past Kerr to finish first.
Kerr got the last laugh three nights later when he won the final. Ingebrigtsen blamed it on being sick, which annoyed some people who felt that took away from Kerr’s breakthrough victory.
In the ensuing year, the two bickered back and forth about a handful of issues, but mostly over what Kerr said was Ingebrigtsen’s need to use pacemakers, which are not allowed in major championships.
Ingebrigtsen insisted that wasn’t the case and that, in most races, he was the pacemaker. Kerr suggested Ingebrigtsen’s Olympic title at 1,500 meters in 2021 came courtesy of Timothy Cheruiyot, who was racing to win but served as a pacemaker of sorts, holding the lead for much of the race before dropping to second.
A comeback in the 5,000 but will there be an encore?
Lost somewhere was that Ingebrigtsen’s win Friday night in the 5,000 — his better race over the years — was nothing short of remarkable. It came with limited training in the aftermath of surgery in February to remove built-up scar tissue on his left Achilles. A World Athletics pre-race statistical analysis predicted he’d come in 12th.
“So much to prove,” Ingebrigtsen said. “What more can I do?”
His brother, Henrik, also marveled at Jakob’s ability to bounce back and get to the point where he could win against the best field of the year.
Yet, as Jakob left the track Friday, it was no sure thing he’d be on the starting line for Sunday and the 1,500, which he insists is his favorite race, even if it has caused its share of heartache over the years.
Ingebrigtsen hasn’t won a 1,500 in a major outdoor championship since the Tokyo Games.
“He’s nowhere near the shape of Josh Kerr and those other guys, they’re in the shape of their life,” Henrik said. “It would be really fun to see how close he could get with his limited shape.”
Kerr thinks it would be fun, too.
“He’s one of the best 1500-meter, 5K runners of all time and I’m excited to go out and race him,” Kerr said. “I’m not going to lose, but I’m excited to go out there and race.”
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