Like every other track and field fan this weekend, Olympic gold medalist Noah Lyles turned his attention to the 118th Millrose Games in New York. The reason? Well, there was high drama in the premier men’s two-mile event.

“The Olympic 1500m champion and 2025 World 5000m champion Cole Hocker with the sleeper move!! He charged down the straight and silenced the noise by taking the win in the highly anticipated Men’s 2 Mile,” the Millrose Games wrote on an X post, where Lyles replied, stating, “Hit them with the GTS!” This was pure support for his fellow American, Cole Hocker.

The men’s two-mile was stacked. It featured world indoor record holder Josh Kerr, 5000m world champion and Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker, 1500m World silver medalist Jake Wightman, and more! However, the eyes of the audience, including Noah Lyles’, were locked on Hocker. His main rival? It was Kerr.

The British middle-distance runner came to the Millrose Games with a major statement, saying, “Yeah, very calm. Um, you know, training is going very well. Obviously, I’m the current world record holder. I know I can run that fast, and uh, you know the way the training’s been going obviously, and the field that’s been assembled here is probably going to go a little bit faster.”

He added, “So you know, I wasn’t going to allow this race to happen without me in it, and um I made sure to get myself in the right fitness to go out and battle and and hold off that world record.”

Kerr was confident, which made the crowd raise their pre-race expectations. But the race results? In the end, Hocker’s time of 8:07.31 was enough to edge out Kerr (8:07.68) for the win. It was more than a performance, as it served as a statement. The American, who is the reigning 1500m Olympic champion, silenced all the noise around him.

While his run was not the world record time of 8:00.67, which was set by the Brit at the same venue two years ago, this victory kept his naysayers at bay, and for Lyles and other American spectators, their eyes were more than blessed. However, this isn’t the first time the public has seen the 100m Olympic champion cheer for Hocker.

Noah Lyles has always supported this fellow American track athlete

At the Paris Olympics, the men’s 1500m final was considered a major showdown between world champion Kerr and his arch nemesis Jakob Ingebrigtsen. While many thought that the entire race would be about the two titans, the results showcased a completely different picture.

Surprisingly, Ingebrigtsen placed fourth with a time of 3:28.24, USA’s Yared Nuguse came third (3:27.80), and Kerr finished second (3:27.79) right behind Cole Hocker, who posted a blistering 3:27.65.

“I am just so proud of myself to find a way to win. I put myself in the position and my body took me over the line,” a humble Hocker said following the race, but his victory was met with Noah Lyles’ amazing reaction on social media.

Immediately on X, the then newly crowned 100m Olympic champion wrote: “That was an amazing 1500! Cole Hocker you Got me screaming my head off!” And such excitement was carried over to this year’s Millrose Games.

Coming to the event, Hocker was motivated. At the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, he posted a blistering time of 4:52.92 to run the 2000m American record. So, the 1500m Olympic champion kept his goals clear and, rather than talking, let his performance do it for him.