By Mac Fleet
May 28, 2023
The Very Nice Track Club’s Hobbs Kessler has been waiting to showcase his talent as a professional since turning professional in the Summer of 2021. At Saturday’s Los Angeles Grand Prix, he finished third overall in a huge personal best of 3:32.61 behind former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot (3:31.47 world lead) and U20 world champion Reynold Kipkorir Cheruiyot (3:32.01).
Kessler closed his final lap in 55.83 and finished just ahead of U.S. champion Cooper Teare, who also notched a personal best of 3:32.74.
What you need to know:
– Kessler’s performance puts him at No. 13 on the all-time list. His run was the fastest 1500m run by an American man on U.S. soil.
– Kessler is now one of three American men who have the World Athletics Championship qualifying standard for Budapest. Teare and Yared Nuguse (his 3:33.22 split for 1500m from his mile at the Millrose Games counts) are also qualified via the time standard.
"I was sick of getting my ass kicked in domestic races. I want to be a contender. The only way to do that is to fake it until you make it."
What He Said After The Race:
“After running fast young, you never know if you’re going to get it back so it feels good to get it back.”
Our Take
Both Cooper and Hobbs were rewarded for being unafraid of a fast pace. That is the confidence they need if the U.S. is going to have any shot at hardware in Budapest.
For Teare, he’s shown to be one of the most consistent performers in the US.
For Hobbs, this is another impressive plot on the chart, but we need to see him string together a series of races because ultimately he’ll need five in a row at USAs and Worlds to be a major player. The best part is that he’s got the right people in his corner to get him there.
– Mac Fleet
Last year, Hobbs went through a lot of life changes and though he was healthy the results never fully showed. Not only is he still 20 years old, but it’s only been a few years since he was a rock climber with a running problem.
With his injury at Worlds, Cooper never got a fair chance to see how he could compete at the international level last year. Most fans probably view him as a 5000m guy but he is the U.S. champion at 1500 and is now mixing it up in the final 100 meters with Timothy Cheruiyot.
– Kyle Merber
Mac Fleet
Mac, who possesses one of the best runner names of his generation, lived up to the billing as a two-time NCAA 1500m champion and eight-time All-American as an Oregon Duck.
