Reflection / John Shaughnessy
Cole Hocker wins Olympic gold: ‘I just let God carry me to the finish line’
When Cole Hocker raced to a gold medal and an Olympic record in the 1500- meter run in Paris on Aug. 6, a television commentator called it a moment that “shocked the world.”
All hype aside, the thrilling surge by the 2019 graduate of Cathedral High School in Indianapolis past previous world- and Olympic champions in the final stretch of the race was breathtaking and historic—making him just the fourth American in Olympic history to win this signature race. (Related story: Cathedral, coaches celebrate Cole Hocker’s golden Olympic run)
And while the 23-year-old Hocker believes he can win any race he runs—and he had that belief about the 2024 Olympics—the fire and joy he showed immediately after crossing the finish line also soon turned to a stunned expression of awe, reflecting that what he had just done was true, that the dream he was now living was real.
So were the words of thanks and praise that he shared in a post-race interview at the stadium where more than 70,000 fans—including his parents, Kyle and Janet Hocker—had risen to their feet and roared for his gutsy, dramatic win.
Recalling the moment when he found the homestretch opening along the rail of the track to sprint past the two heavy favorites in the race, Hocker said, “When it opened up, I just let God carry me to the finish line.”
In a later interview, hours after the race on the NBC television network, Hocker also used the words “divine intervention” to describe that defining moment.
Those references to God recalled some of the comments he made in a conversation with The Criterion in 2021, after having just qualified to represent the United States in the 1500-meter run in the Olympics in Tokyo that year.
Recalling the 2021 qualifying race that led him to represent the United States for the first time as an Olympian, Hocker talked about how he had followed his usual pre-race routine of saying a prayer, asking God to be with him as he pursued his goal.
He also noted, “The reason I run is because I have a God-given talent. I just feel God has given me the gift of running, and my job is to give it my best.
“On top of that, because I’ve been given that, I want to take advantage of it. And it’s more gratifying because of how hard I have worked. This year, more than ever, I’ve held myself to a higher standard. Every race I’ve entered, I thought I could win. After years of thinking about running in the Olympics and dreaming about it, to have it all come to fruition is awesome.”
Three years later, that dream took on another dimension as he continued to follow a routine that he began as a child—writing down his goals on a piece of paper.
“Winning gold was my goal this entire year,” Hocker said after his gold medal victory in Paris. “I wrote that down, and I repeated it to myself even if I didn’t believe it.
“I knew I was a medal contender, and I knew that if I get it right, it would be a gold medal. I’ve been saying that.”
Talking about the moment when the goal became realized, Hocker smiled and said, “It felt like a dream.”
It’s a dream-come-true that involved celebrating with an American flag draped around his shoulders, ringing the ceremonial “Paris 2024” bell that will eventually be placed in the rebuilt Notre Dame Cathedral, and standing in awe as “The Star-Spangled Banner” was played in his honor.
Most of all it’s a dream-come-true built on the foundation of a desire to make the most of a God-given gift—and a deep appreciation for the source of that gift.
“When it opened up, I just let God carry me to the finish line.”
(John Shaughnessy is the assistant editor of The Criterion.)†