Jakob Ingebrigtsen entered the World Ultimate Championship with plenty of attention already surrounding him after his outspoken comments about Cole Hocker. The Olympic champion had called his American rival and other competitors “losers” following the 1500m at the Diamond League Final in Brussels, though he later apologized for using the word. However, he did not completely back down from his criticism of Hocker, leaving their next meeting with an extra edge.
On September 11, Ingebrigtsen and Hocker lined up for the men’s 5000m, but the field was tightly packed as the race moved toward its final stages. The Americans were particularly strong, with five runners eventually finishing inside the top seven. Still, when it came time to make the decisive move, Ingebrigtsen had the answer.
The Norwegian waited patiently before unleashing his kick in the closing stages. He surged away from the tightly packed field and crossed the finish line in 12:59.24, becoming the first men’s 5000m Ultimate Champion. Hocker finished second in 13:00.05, leading a remarkable American showing. Parker Wolfe was just eight hundredths behind in 13:00.13, followed by Nico Young in 13:00.26. Grant Fisher clocked 13:00.34 for sixth, while Graham Blanks finished seventh in 13:00.40.
The margins showed just how tough the race had been. Hocker, Wolfe, Young, Fisher and Blanks were separated by only 0.35 seconds, creating an almost entirely American pack behind Ingebrigtsen. Yet none of them could match Ingebrigtsen’s finishing speed when the title was on the line.
For Ingebrigtsen, the win also provided a response to the noise that had followed him from Brussels. He had finished fourth in the 1500m at the Diamond League Final in 3:30.52, with Australia’s Cameron Myers taking the victory in 3:30.14. Frustrated by the way the race had unfolded, Ingebrigtsen called the field a “bunch of cowards” and said everyone except Myers looked like “losers,” including himself. The comments quickly became a major talking point, and Ingebrigtsen later apologized for using the word “losers.”
He did not, however, abandon his criticism of Hocker. Ingebrigtsen continued to argue that his frustration was about the tactics used in Brussels. That made their next race together one of the most closely watched matchups of the Ultimate Championship. Hocker had the chance to answer on the track, and although he could not catch Ingebrigtsen, he chose not to turn the moment into another argument.
Asked after the race whether he respected Ingebrigtsen and whether he believed the Norwegian respected him, Hocker gave a measured response. “I think there’s some respect that comes with that and I think everyone that’s on the start line of a global final deserves a lot of respect,” Hocker said.
“You can have opinions on the race and how it goes, but every race I know I’m going to give it my 100% and that’s what I did tonight.” For Hocker, that effort was enough to earn second place in a race where the American team pushed Ingebrigtsen all the way. And rather than complain about the result or revisit the Brussels controversy, he was content with what he had put on the track.
“That got me second place tonight and that’s something I can live with. I just gave it everything I had and I’m not going to complain about how it went. I got second.” Ingebrigtsen got the win and the first Ultimate Championship title. Hocker, meanwhile, left Budapest with a different kind of answer.