Blacksburg runner Cole Hocker wins gold at Paris Olympics

Cole Hocker said he was going to Paris to win gold. That’s exactly what the Blacksburg resident did Tuesday. Hocker stunned the track and field world by defeating 2021 Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and 2023 world champion Josh Kerr to win the men’s 1,500-meter run in the 2024 Olympic Summer Games. Hocker, an Indiana native and former NCAA champion at the University of Oregon, moved to Blacksburg last fall to reunite with Virginia Tech track and field coach Ben Thomas and train in the New River Valley. Hocker used a...