Cole Hocker’s father, Kyle, shouted an explicit response when his son won the 1,500-meter race at the Olympics in dramatic fashion.
Hocker grabbed headlines on Tuesday after defeating the favourites and winning the event. At the end of the race, Hocker easily outpaced world champion Josh Kerr of Great Britain and Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigsten to break the Olympic record with a time of 3:27.65.
Like the rest of the world, Hocker’s father was stunned by his son’s latest effort to steal the race from his competitors as the door seemed to be closing in his face.
A viral video, which garnered more than 700,000 views on X, showed Kyle yelling ‘What the fuck?’ as Cole approached the finish line.
He is then seen jumping up and down with the rest of the crowd in celebration.
Cole Hocker’s father went viral for his X reaction to the runner’s Olympic victory
Kerr took silver while Hocker’s U.S. teammate Yared Naguse secured a second podium for the Americans.
Although the race was billed as a showdown between Kerr and the outspoken and confident Ingebrigsten, Hocker played a key role in becoming just the fourth American to win an Olympic gold medal in the 1,500.
“With 100 meters to go, I knew it was enough,” Hocker said. “I haven’t seen the replay of the race or anything, but I saw Jakob, I feel like he was thinking about Kerr and he started to drift, and I thought I would take advantage of that and try to hit him on the inside, which I’ve been able to do a couple of times in my career.
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At the end of the race, Hocker overtook Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigsten to take the win.
Kerr took silver while Hocker’s U.S. teammate Yared Naguse took bronze.
“He’s a smart enough rider to stop him right away, so I had to re-evaluate. It was special to be able to attack not just once, but twice.”
Ingebrigtsen took the lead and held it for the first 1,200 metres. From there, Hocker, who was in fourth place with 300 metres to go, stepped on the accelerator and made great strides towards Olympic glory.
“(Kerr and Ingebrigtsen) have had all the added pressure and noise,” Hocker added. “I think part of this job is blocking out that noise, and it gets harder and harder the more you stand out, and I’m sure that will change after today… I’ve been able to fly under the radar for this competition, but I’m sure I won’t anymore.”
