Cole Hocker has looked back on his remarkable 2024 season, reflecting on his Olympic triumph and his performances in the Diamond League.

American middle-distance runner Cole Hocker is hoping for an exceptional 2024 season, capping a year in which he not only won Olympic gold in the 1500m, but also put in a series of strong performances in the Diamond League finals.

The 23-year-old runner secured third place in the men’s 1500m race at the Diamond League final in Brussels with an impressive time of 3:30.94.

Although he narrowly missed out on victory against Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot, Hocker’s ability to remain competitive under increasing pressure was a standout feature of his season.

Hocker burst onto the world stage with his performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he won the gold medal, running a sensational time of 3:27.65 in the men’s 1500m, setting a new Olympic record.

He left the favorites Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen behind. Kerr took silver with a time of 3:27.79 – a national record for Great Britain – and Ingebrigtsen surprisingly came fourth.

With his historic run, Hocker immediately became one of the elite in his sport and his newfound fame also brought with it new challenges.

“Yes, absolutely. I became an Olympic champion literally overnight.” said Hocker after his third place in Brussels.

“I think these three races were a challenge I’ve never experienced in this sport before. I’m really happy with how I managed it because, in addition to the mental and physical exhaustion of the Olympics and the high that comes with it, there is also external pressure that I have to limit as best as I can. At the moment I’m doing quite well at that, but it’s still pretty much impossible to ignore.”

The Olympic champion has remained grounded despite his recent successes, admitting that both external expectations and his own personal goals have driven him to maintain a high level of performance throughout the season.

While many athletes would have ended the season after such a triumphant Olympic performance, Hocker decided to continue competing.

“Even though you can’t see anything, I know there are expectations of me. I have high expectations of myself and it would have been easy to say, ‘I just had the season of my life, the best race I could have asked for at the Olympics’ and call it a season.” added Hocker.

Looking back on his decision to continue competing after his Olympic victory, Hocker explained why he decided to extend his season and pursue further opportunities in the Diamond League

“But I made the decision to stay with it and optimize this moment in my life because I know how precious it is. I’ll only be in this window once in my life. Of course, I hope that in four years I’ll get the chance to defend this, but it’s such a unique time in my life that I wanted to keep it alive, keep the season alive, even though it was really tough.” he said.

Hocker’s Diamond League season was equally notable. He made his first appearance at the Prefontaine Classic, where he placed seventh in the men’s mile with a time of 3:48.95.

After his Olympic victory, Hocker took part in the Lausanne Diamond League and secured second place with a season’s best time of 3:29.85. He then showed another strong performance at the Zurich Diamond League, finishing third behind Yared Nuguse and Jakob Ingebrigtsen with a time of 3:30.46.