Here’s our discussion on whether Cole Hocker has done enough to prove that he’s the best distance runner in the world right now. (The following transcript has been edited lightly for clarity):

Chris Chavez: We seem to have this tendency to try and trick ourselves before any race by thinking someone else other than Cole Hocker is the favorite. He's the clear favorite moving forward. He's the best middle-distance runner in the world right now.

Kyle Merber: The prior narrative was that Cole was only great in championships since the big moment suits him and that midseason time trials weren't his bread and butter. Forget all that. It seems he can do it all. The coolest thing for me was how fired up he was after the race. I wondered what the target was: just the American record, or something even faster?

Part of me wishes this was still a flat track and we could convert 3:45.9 down to 3:40-something… He just kept going faster and I wished there was another lap at the end—it seemed like he had another gear if he needed it. This was the type of performance I thought about all day on my run afterwards. Cole Hocker is the best middle-distance runner in the world right now, and I don't think that's even a conversation.

Kyle Merber: Preet, I hear you, but the suggestion that Phanuel Koech, Azzedine Habz or Jakob Ingebrigtsen would be ahead of Cole in this scenario…I just don't see it anymore. A year ago, that made sense. Nowore in the bank, and for a guy who's a racer, if you put someone next to him, he's just going faster.

Preet Majithia: Probably. I think we need to see what he can do. The way he set himself up in this race is how it worked out – similar to how he ran the 1500m final in Paris to clock 3:27. He might be a different athlete now, but I still feel his best race is the one finished with that burst of speed at the end. You don't want to max out from lap one.

Chris Chavez: If you analyze the splits, it was deliberately conservatively paced and maybe even the kind of race you could still run after two championship rounds. The early laps hovered around 28.5 seconds, which kept him from burning out at the start. The decisive stretch was the final 600 meters and he closed with two consecutive 27-second laps to create the gap over Cooper Teare, who finished second.

I’m left wondering: What else does Cole have to do to become the standard? Even with Jakob injured and out likely until late summer, we still feel like Cole has to go out and win Diamond League races in Europe before the dominance narrative fully centers on him.

Kyle Merber: I'll tell you what he needs to do—beat Isaac Nader. Nader is the defending world champion. Cole didn't get the opportunity last year. That's the belt. That's what he needs to claim.

Chris Chavez: It feels like such a low bar.

Kyle Merber: It’s not a low bar! He’s the reigning World champion.

Chris Chavez: I believe there will be at least 10 guys who beat Nader at various points throughout the year, but still, I guess Cole has to go out to Europe this summer and clean up some Diamond Leagues for the broader world to become converts. We see it here in America and it's pretty clear to us.

Listen to more analysis from the ASICS Sound Invite on the latest episode of The CITIUS MAG Podcast, here.