How Indy native Cole Hocker set American indoor record for the mile

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Nothing ever will compare to the Olympic Games, but Cole Hocker was feeling vibes similar to those from Stade de France.

The JDL Track was bulging with fans beyond listed capacity of 3,000 Saturday night. The ASICS Sound Invite featured lights, sound, camera.

Hocker supplied the action.

“Obviously, it’s a fraction of the people in Paris, but in a much tighter area. It was deafening,” he said. “Every lap felt like it was the last lap of the race. Eight hundred meters into it, I had to rein it in. It’s easy to get excited amid all the chaos.”

Hocker made a bid for a world indoor record and settled for an American record, running the mile in 3:45.94.

The 24-year-old Indianapolis runner was surrounded afterward by fans wanting autographs and photos. And if anyone wondered whether this banked, 200-meter oval is indeed a fast track, he stated:

“Take it from me. The track feels amazing.”

Hocker was so close to the pacemaker that he was clipping his heels. The finish was so fast – 27.34 for last 200 meters, 54.82 for 400, 1:51.70 for 800 – that there was evidence Hocker did not expend everything.

The Cathedral High graduate broke the American record of 3:46.63 set by Notre Dame grad Yared Nuguse at New York’s Millrose Games in February 2025. Hocker’s 1,500-meter time en route, 3:30.80, broke Nuguse’s record of 3:31.74.

Nuguse held the world indoor record for five days, until beaten by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen with a 3:45.14 mile. Hocker famously upset Ingebrigtsen to win the Olympic gold medal in 2024, with Nuguse taking bronze.

Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj has held the outdoor mile record of 3:43.13 since 1999. Hocker suggested that is a target, too.

“I think the sky’s the limit,” Hocker said. “Like it’s fast, indoors, 3:45, no doubt. But we’re talking big picture, I gotta be able to go 3:42 hopefully somewhere in my career.”

Other than Hocker’s one-day-old American record in an indoor 2,000 meters Jan. 23 at Blacksburg, Va., he became the first Hoosier distance runner to set an American record since Rudy Chapa of Hammond. Chapa clocked 7:37.7 for an outdoor 3,000 meters in 1979. Most recent Hoosier to set a distance world record was Auburn’s Don Lash, whose time of 8:58.4 in 1936 broke Paavo Nurmi’s two-mile mark.

Hocker has Olympic gold in the 1,500 and a world championship in the 5,000. Only four other men have won global titles in both: Nurmi, El Guerrouj, Bernard Lagat, Ingebrigtsen.

After a 2025 stretch in which Hocker was 0-9, he is 6-0 in his past six finals.

“We know he can handle tactical races,” said Virginia Tech’s Ben Thomas, who has coached Hocker since 2020, when both were at Oregon. “So, the main goal is run the 1,200 in just a little progression pace from what we’ve been doing, and then see how fast he can kick off that.

“It’s coming together well. The biggest thing is just the consistency. He’s been healthy for a good long stretch here. That’s really all it takes, when you have that kind of talent.”

Hocker said if there was a statement to be made, it was mostly for himself. His mile best had been 3:47.43, set outdoors last year, and his indoor mile best was 3:50.35 from 2022.

Most urgently, he is aiming for a 1,500/3,000 double at indoor nationals Feb. 28-March 1. Then he can try for world indoor golds in both next month at Torun, Poland.

Hocker’s training partner, Cooper Teare, finished second in 3:50.49. Sam Ruthe, a New Zealand 16-year-old, was seventh in 3:52.46.

The race was billed as a reprise of the outdoor mile in the 1965 AAU Championships at San Diego. Then, the roles were reversed: The teen phenom was an American, 18-year-old Jim Ryun, and reigning Olympic gold medalist was a Kiwi, 26-year-old Peter Snell. Ryun set an American record of 3:55.3 in beating Snell.

No chance for the teen here. Not with the Olympic champion already contemplating more world record attempts.

“I’m excited to take another stab when it makes sense,” Hocker said.

Contact IndyStar correspondent David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.

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All-time indoor mile

3:45.14 Jakob Ingebrigtsen NOR, 2025

3:45.94 Cole Hocker USA, 2026

3:46.63 Yared Nuguse USA, 2025

3:46.90 Hobbs Kessler USA, 2025

3:47.01 Yomif Kejelcha ETH 2019

3:47.22 Nuguse, 2025

3:47.38, Nuguse, 2023