Cole Hocker’s Dad Had Priceless Reaction to His 1500-Meter Gold Medal Win

Kyle Hocker was all of us.
Aug 6, 2024; Saint-Denis, FRANCE; Cole Hocker (USA) celebrates after winning the men's 1500m final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade de France. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 6, 2024; Saint-Denis, FRANCE; Cole Hocker (USA) celebrates after winning the men's 1500m final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Stade de France. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports / James Lang-USA TODAY Sports

As far as familial celebrations go at the Olympics, nothing beats a simple, unfiltered moment of accidentally blurting out an expletive for everyone to hear at the end of a special win. 

In Tuesday’s men’s 1500-meter final at Stade de France in the Paris Games, Team USA’s Cole Hocker stunned the world by snatching the gold medal away from favorites Josh Kerr of Great Britain and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway.

Hocker kicked into a legendary gear in the last stretch of the race, amazingly pulling from fifth to first over the final 300 meters to blow by Kerr and Ingebrigtsen in what was arguably the biggest upset on the Olympic track this summer.  

No one was more surprised to see Hocker’s triumphant finish than his dad.

Cole Hocker’s father, Kyle, was seen looking through binoculars earlier in the race, as any engaged sports dad would. Then, when Cole started to ramp up his speed down the straight, Kyle put the binoculars away and needed just three words to describe what he saw.

“What the f---.”

The 23-year-old Indiana native would take home gold and set a new Olympic record in the process, crossing the finish line in 3:27:65. 

Talk about a proud—and NSFW—dad moment.


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Kristen Wong

KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.