“They were trying to destroy each other. By destroying each other, Cole Hocker stepped forward.”
BBC Sport commentator and former world champion Steve Cram’s verdict on an epic men’s 1500m final got straight to the point.
All the talk, all the excitement and hype was about the match between Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Josh Kerr.
The sharp tongues and exciting racing made for an exciting rivalry and it was expected that one would take the honours on the purple track in Paris.
The race was as exciting as everyone had predicted. Only no one gave the ponytailed Hocker the script.
“I told myself I’m in this race too,” said the 23-year-old American. “If they let me fly under the radar, then so be it.”
Ultimately, Hocker won a gold medal at the Olympic Games, surprising the Stade de France.
“I ruined it for myself”
Ingebrigtsen’s scorched earth approach – ostensibly designed to ensure his rial was nowhere near him on the final straight – backfired as he exploded to finish fourth, with Kerr taking silver and Yared Nuguse bronze.
As the steel-faced Norwegian crossed the finish line, he shook his head in disbelief.
His Olympic title is gone and he cannot even speak of a silver or bronze medal, but of a consolation prize.
“I started with a 54-second lap,” Ingebrigtsen said.
“That wasn’t the intention at all. It was definitely two seconds too fast. I thought about slowing down a bit, but the next lap was almost the same speed.
“I ruined it for myself by going way too hard.”
It is a bleak assessment from the Norwegian, which will only lead to suggestions that he appears to have been thrown off balance by back-to-back World Cup defeats to Kerr and his British team-mate Jake Wightman.
His urge to let everyone down left him with weak legs at just the right time.
Former marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe claimed on BBC One that Ingebrigtsen’s “nerve was a bit rattled”.
Maybe he played the only card he thought he had.
“He can’t run any other way,” said BBC Radio 5 Live summariser Allison Curbishley.
“He had to make it difficult for everyone and take away the sprint, but unfortunately for him everyone knows that and everyone has trained for it.
“They know he can be defeated.”
Britain’s Kerr ‘extremely proud’
While it may be time for Ingebrigtsen to go back to the drawing board after a sobering night, Kerr will look at it with mixed feelings.
He had trained like a maniac and sacrificed so much in an attempt to win gold.
He had even been to the Stade de France at Christmas and ventured into the grand arena to imagine the winning moment.
As he sprinted to victory down the straight, his power faded and Hocker crept in on the inside.
Silver won’t shine like the rest, but when you make the final, run faster than ever before, set a British record, break the previous Olympic record and stand on the podium, it’s hard to be too downhearted.
“I can’t walk away from a championship disappointed,” said Kerr, who became the first Scot to win a medal on more than one course.
“I said what my goals were, that was pretty clear, but I delivered a performance today that I’m incredibly proud of.
“I focused on my controllable skills and ran the best and fastest tactical 1500m I have ever run in my life.”
At 26, Kerr hopes to perform even better and achieve his Olympic goals in Los Angeles in 2028.
Bronze in Tokyo, silver in Paris, gold in LA. It sounds nice.
But the next thing he’s going to do, he says, is have a few pints, having given up alcohol during his Olympic journey.
“It would be great to win gold in LA, but I feel confident having won a medal at every championship except one in the last four years,” Kerr added.
“I am consistent at this level and I will get the medal I want at the end of my career. That didn’t happen today, but it was a big step in the right direction.”
The final word, however, belongs to Hocker. A man who was little talked about in the run-up to the match, delivered a huge shock at the crucial moment.
That’s why we love sports.
“That’s an incredible feeling,” said the American.
“I just felt carried by the stadium and God. My body was just doing it for me. My mind was completely there and I saw that finish line.
“Winning gold was my goal this whole year. I wrote that down and repeated it to myself, even though I didn’t believe it.
“I knew I was a contender for a medal, and I knew if I did well it would be a gold medal.”
