Hocker Camp Hits Back at Ingebrigtsen: “It’s Embarrassing”

Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s angry comments after a fourth-place finish in Brussels drew a sharp response from Cole Hocker’s camp. Ingebrigtsen had led into the home straight of Friday’s 1,500-meter Diamond League final, but several runners passed him before he finished fourth.

Speaking to NRK afterward, the Norwegian said: “What a bunch of losers I ran against. I lost and I wasn’t good enough.” He then turned his attention to Hocker, the reigning Olympic and world champion.

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What a bunch of losers I ran against. I lost and I wasn’t good enough.

Ingebrigtsen claimed Hocker had arranged for his own teammate’s pacemaker to be replaced. He said the move made the field expect Hocker to follow his teammate’s pace, while Hocker instead stayed behind the other runners. “He tricked all of us,” Ingebrigtsen told Citius Mag.

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He tricked all of us.

Ray Flynn, Hocker’s manager, rejected the accusation. “Jakob no longer wins races and comes across as a whiny runner who blames others. It is now embarrassing that a great champion complains and blames other runners for his own mistakes,” Flynn told VG.

Flynn said the pacemakers were the same ones presented at the technical meeting, which Ingebrigtsen’s representative also attended. He said Hocker’s training partner had been the first pacemaker, while the second had been added by the organizers and performed poorly. Flynn added that Hocker was obstructed early before reaching the front after 300 meters.

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Jakob no longer wins races and comes across as a whiny runner who blames others. It is now embarrassing that a great champion complains and blames other runners for his own mistakes.

Ingebrigtsen later said on Instagram that his comments came with “perhaps a little too much adrenaline and emotion” after the microphones were pushed in front of him. He also wrote that his love for the sport could never be questioned and that he would continue to say what he saw.

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Perhaps a little too much adrenaline and emotion.