“The 1500 was epic!” Pete Kay exclaimed as I was walking into Lolitia’s Market early last week. Grabbing my arm, he continued, “What a race!” The Paris Olympic men’s Olympic 1500 meter final Kay was referring to — so outstanding that it stands out among so many outstanding events in Paris — was indeed some race. It was an “epic” confrontation that had all the elements of an instant classic: a not-so-friendly rivalry between defending Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen and World Championship gold medalist Josh Kerr; a deep, fast field; courageous front-running; savvy racing strategy; and a sprint finish anyone would get excited about, runner or non-runner.
There was also an Olympic bronze medal for Boulder’s Yared Nuguse, who came oh-so-close to the gold medal, won by his teammate, Cole Hocker. The third U.S.
runner, Hobbs Kessler, placed fifth. “It was like a horse race,” said Skyler Schlageck, the local On tech rep, even more excited than a typical fan, because Nuguse is sponsored by On and competes for the Boulder-based On Athletic Club. Schlageck’s horse-racing analogy is a good one, summing up the way the finalists sprinted for the inside of lane 1 at the start.
The outspoken — some say boastful — Ingebrigtsen was in front nearly the entire race in an attempt to dull the finishing kick of Kerr and the others. The Norwegian star led the field through a blazing first 400 meters of 54 seconds and passed 800 meters in 1:51. ‘Whoa,’ I .