American proves pedigree with devastating final surge
US also win women’s and men’s 4x100m relays on last day
At last year’s Paris Olympics Cole Hocker proved over 1500m that he has one of the most devastating finishing kicks in track and field. Over 5,000m in Tokyo the American reinforced the message even more emphatically.
When the bell rang for the final lap Hocker was in 11th place, and close to 15 metres off the lead. But he quickly began picking his rivals off before timing his final surge to perfection to take gold in 12min 58.30sec, ahead of Belgium’s Isaac Kimeli, with Jimmy Gressier adding bronze to his 10,000m gold.
Afterwards Hocker wasted no time in claiming vindication after being controversially disqualified earlier in the week for “jostling” in the semi-finals of the 1500m. “I wanted to end the world championships on my terms,” he said. “I felt like I was robbed in the 1500m. I knew I had the opportunity today and that I had the legs to take this field. I had a lot of bodies ahead of me but I felt very strong; enough to pass them one by one.
