Timothy Cheruiyot's Paris competitors Ingebrigtsen, Kerr set for Zurich rematch

So much had been written about the Paris Games' 1500m race where Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen was up against world champion Josh Kerr.

However, the US boys Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse outwitted the two Europeans.

The quartet has switched their focus to the Diamond League (DL), Weltklasse Zürich on Thursday 5 September, where there will be a big rematch.

When two people argue, a third one is happy. That is how you could sum up the epic 1500m final race in Paris. However, the DL is a different race and fireworks are expected. 

Hocker had already demonstrated his speed at the trials when he outdid defending champion Nuguse and ran a personal best of 3:30.59 minutes. 

The 23-year-old World Indoor Championships silver medalist reduced this time by almost three seconds to 3:27.65 minutes in the Olympic final - a continental record, an Olympic record and, even more importantly, gold in the biggest race of his life so far.

Mozzart Sport writers surprise performance of Paris 2024 Olympics

Behind the surprise man, Kerr won silver with a British record (3:27.79) - after bronze in Tokyo three years ago. Nuguse earned his first Olympic medal in third place, also with a personal best time (3:27.80). 

Tokyo winner and European record holder Ingebrigtsen, on the other hand, had to pay tribute to his horrendous (world record) initial pace and had to be content with fourth. However, the two-time world champion then ran superiorly to win Olympic gold over 5000m.

At Weltklasse Zürich, the Norwegian frontrunner is not only looking for revenge, but can also count on the services of pacemakers and Wavelight technology in the first 1000 meters.

In 2023, Nuguse won in a thrilling final sprint ahead of Kerr. Hocker has not yet gotten beyond ninth place in the Letzigrund Stadium.  

Additional information by Athletics Weekly