Olympics champion Cole Hocker was disqualified from the 1,500m final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo

Cole Hocker has been disqualified from the 1,500m final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo after the Olympic champion was penalized for illegally pushing Robert Farken of Germany during the semi-finals earlier today.

Cole Hocker, who triumphed over Josh Kerr and Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the much-anticipated 1,500m final at the Paris Olympics last year, was found guilty of a breach of the World Athletics rules on “pushing” (TR17.1.2[J]). The American edged out Robert Farken to finish in the top six and secure an automatic place in Wednesday’s final.

The penalty came after a protest by Germany after Robert Farken initially failed to qualify.

Team USA lodged a counter-protest against Cole Hocker’s disqualification, but it was quickly overturned.

Robert Farken advanced to the final, while Tshepo Tshite of South Africa moved into the top six to take the final spot.

“We are disappointed with the decision to disqualify Olympic champion Cole Hocker from the men’s 1500m final”, said the USA Track and Field team in a statement. “We believed we had grounds to appeal, but unfortunately, that appeal was denied”, adds the statement.

Cole Hocker is an American athlete specializing in middle- and long-distance running, particularly in the 1,500 m. He achieved a gold medal in this event at the 2024 Summer Olympics held in Paris, where he set both an Olympic record and a regional record with a time of 3:27.65 min. In 2025, he recorded the second-fastest indoor 3,000m time in history, clocking in at 7:23.14.

Cole Hocker has secured numerous national titles in annual competitions organized by USA Track & Field, which include four championships in the 1500 m and one in the 3000 meters. In March 2024, he earned a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. Additionally, Cole Hocker finished sixth in the 1500 m at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and seventh at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.