Olympic champion Cole Hocker has been disqualified from the men's 1500m at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after being judged to have illegally pushed Germany's Robert Farken during the semi-finals. The 24-year-old American fell foul of jostling rules (TR17.1.2[J]) and has expressed his extreme disappointment.
Hocker, who won gold at the Paris Olympics, will now focus on the 5000m event, with semi-finals scheduled for Friday. 'Extremely disappointed not to get the chance to defend my 1500m title this year,' Hocker said. 'As always, championships are unpredictable, but there's no time to feel sorry for myself. Looking forward to the first round of the 5k this Friday.'
The incident occurred in the final straight of the second semi-final heat. Hocker, attempting to squeeze between Farken and the Netherlands' Stefan Nillessen, used his right arm to push Farken and then held his arm across the German's body. Farken finished ninth in the heat, while Nillessen was tenth. Great Britain's Neil Gourley advanced to the final alongside defending champion Jake Wightman and Josh Kerr.
Hocker's agents, Flynn Sports, criticised the officials, stating: 'We want to be a professional sport but are directed by amateur officials who can't see the value of the world seeing the best 1500m race in the world.' The United States Track & Field team appealed the decision but it was denied. Former world champion Steve Cram, commentating for the BBC, agreed with the disqualification, saying Hocker had 'panicked' and 'did impede the German athlete.'
Before learning of his disqualification, Hocker defended his move, telling Citius Mag: 'Obviously I'm not trying to affect anyone else's race. I was just trying to get to the line in that top six position.' Farken was advanced to the final, with South Africa's Tshepo Tshite taking the final qualifying spot.
