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Yared Nuguse steals the show at the Olympic revenge in the 1500-meter run

For three minutes on Thursday, Jakob Ingebrigtsen was exactly where he wanted to be. But the last 29 seconds belonged to Yared Nuguse.

In the Zurich Diamond League 1500m race, Nuguse moved up to Ingebrigtsen's shoulder 150m from the finish and eventually overtook him in the last 50m, winning with a time of 3:29.21.

Ingebrigtsen took second place with a time of 3:29.52, followed by Cole Hocker in third place (3:30.46).

The event was an almost identical re-run of the Olympic final on August 6; eight of the twelve finalists from Paris were in Zurich, including all three medal winners.

But unlike in Paris, the race had two pacemakers: Zan Rudolf and Eliott Giles. The latter led the field for the first 1,100 meters, followed by Ingebrigtsen, Nuguse, Josh Kerr and Hocker.

With one lap to go, Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse had a small lead on the field. Kerr led the chasing group and tried to close the gap on the back straight, but couldn't quite close it. Then Nuguse made his attack and Hocker – whose deadly kick won him gold in Paris – was too little, too late.

Nuguse, who is in only his second year as a professional, has had an impressive season, culminating in an Olympic bronze medal in the 1500m. He has only competed once since the Games, in a road mile in Dusseldorf on September 1, where he finished second to Giles.

Nuguse said after the race that he would like to take part in the Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium on September 13.

He told media he knew Thursday's race would be fast and open, but he had a lot of fun navigating the field and it felt like a different atmosphere than the Olympics. “It's definitely a lot less stressful,” he said. “The Olympics were like a huge milestone and once you got over that, it was just fun to race. It's so much more fun running with these guys today.”

Athletics Sui Diamond

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But don't worry, the bronze medal in Paris – the first outdoor medal for the 25-year-old – was a sign of confidence. “The medal at the Olympics gave me more confidence and I now know what I can achieve,” he said. “I mean, nothing has changed really, but my self-esteem has changed. So it's definitely a positive thing.”

After the race, Hocker noted the differences between championship races like the Olympics and the Diamond League circuit. “Tactically, it's always harder when you have a pacemaker, but it still makes it interesting,” he said. “In races like this, with such a field, you appreciate it even more when you win or do well.”

This week, Hocker and Nuguse were announced as the newest members of Grand Slam Track's roster of athletes. The league, which will start in 2025, divides athletes into competition groups. Hocker and Nuguse now occupy three of the four “racer” spots in the 800/1500 meter category alongside Kerr.

Portrait photo by Theo Kahler

Theo Kahler is news editor at Runners world. He is a former all-conference college runner based in Easton, PA. He previously worked as a newsletter editor at Runners world, Ride a bikeAnd Popular mechanics.

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