"I feel the pressure already"-Olympic Gold medalist Cole Hocker opens up on losing to Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m at the Lausanne Diamond League

Olympic Gold medalist Cole Hocker spoke about losing to Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the 1500m at the Lausanne Diamond League weeks after the Paris Olympics. The American athlete expressed that he felt the pressure of being the Olympic Champion and competing in races, however, he believed it helped him to hold on during crucial moments of the race.

After a head-to-head contest at the Paris Olympics, Cole Hocker and Jakob Ingebrigtsen competed at the Lausanne Diamond League, raising great anticipation for a rematch. The Norwegian athlete asserted great dominance to win the race with a formidable lead, seeking redemption for his loss in the Paris Olympics. Both the athletes clocked sub 3:30 in the race with Ingebrigtsen clinching the title with a time of 3:27.83 and Hocker finishing second after clocking 3:29.85.

Cole Hocker spoke about his performance in a post-race interview.

" I think that was really good considering such an overwhelming past two weeks. You know physically recovering is one thing but my mental was, this is my first time racing since being announced as Olympic champion. I feel the pressure already, but I’m excited for how that’s going top push me like how I saw tonight. I was ready to run with whatever the pace was and I did that for as long as I could. I was prepared for that race and to put myself in the right position I did everything I could," he said.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen on making a quick recovery after the Paris Olympics

Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 15 - Source: Getty

Jakob Ingebrigtsen participated in the men's 1500m and 5000m at the Paris Olympics. He spoke about making a quick recovery and returning to the track at the Lausanne Diamond League.

“It’s almost two weeks since Paris, so that’s a lot of time to recover. For some of the runners that compete in the 1500m, it’s 16 days. So if you can’t recover from a three minute race in 16 days, then you have a big problem. But I think a lot of it is mental as well. I get back home, get a couple of easy days, and still get back on it and try to recover and do a little bit of work so that I can compete here today. I think we got a lot of good answers and I can build from this race until my race on Sunday," he said.

Ingebrigtsen will be in action in the Silesia Diamond League on August 25, 2024.