Cole Hocker bids for first world indoor title after 1500m silver in 2024
Josh Kerr looks to regain title two years on from his 3000m gold in Glasgow
World steeplechase champion Geordie Beamish hoping to again finish with a flourish
The men’s 3000m might be low on quantity – with 15 athletes set to contest a straight final at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 – but its quality is simply exceptional.
The race will bring together the full men’s 1500m podium from the 2024 Olympics – USA’s Cole Hocker, Britain’s Josh Kerr and USA’s Yared Nuguse – along with the world champion in the 3000m steeplechase, Geordie Beamish of New Zealand, who unleashed a huge kick to win the world indoor 1500m title two years ago.
Hocker will be seen by many as the slight favourite. The 24-year-old is the Olympic 1500m champion and the world 5000m champion and he possesses both the strength and speed to take victory no matter which way the race is run. However, he can sometimes get into trouble tactically, as he did at the recent US Indoor Championships where he was only fifth in the 1500m, though he showed his class with a superb 3000m win the previous day. Hocker clocked a North American indoor mile record of 3:45.94 in Winston-Salem, USA, last month and will be tough to beat if he’s close to the front with a lap to run.
A man who rarely has issues getting into that position is Kerr, who was highly impressive in winning the world indoor 3000m title on home turf in Glasgow two years ago. The 2023 world 1500m champion has only raced once this year, getting outkicked by Hocker in their two-mile clash in New York last month.
Nuguse won world indoor 3000m silver behind Kerr in Glasgow two years ago and the Olympic 1500m bronze medallist has been in good form this season, finishing just 0.03 behind Hocker in the 3000m at the US Indoor Championships and clocking 3:48.31 to finish second to Australia’s Cam Myers in the Wanamaker Mile in New York.
Beamish produced a devastating kick to win the world 3000m steeplechase title in Tokyo last year, though he was unable to match Hocker and Kerr over two miles in New York last month, finishing fifth in 8:08.58.
The field is loaded with quality beyond that quartet, with French duo Azeddine Habz and Yann Schrub, along with Irish pair Andrew Coscoran and Nick Griggs, also capable of contending.
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics
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