Former Oregon Track Star Cole Hocker Stuns Field with 1500M Gold at Paris Olympics

Former University of Oregon track athlete Cole Hocker pulled off a shocking upset at the 2024 Olympic Games this afternoon, pulling away to take the gold medal in the 1500 over favorites Jakob Ingebrigsten and Josh Kerr.

Hocker, who was listed as much as a 30-1 underdog on Tuesday, set an Olympic record with his time of 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds, storming from fifth to first in the final lap of the race to steal gold and stun the track and field world.

While fellow American Yared Nuguse earned bronze, Hocker became the first American gold medalist in the 1500 since Matthew Centrowitz in 2016.

Simultaneously, Hocker became the eleventh Olympic gold medalist to ever come from the University of Oregon.