Once Kerr had eased past the Norwegian on the final straight it seemed the Briton was on course to add gold to the bronze he took in Tokyo, but he did not reckon with Hocker, who found a path up the inside to take one of the most unexpected golds in the history of the blue riband event.
His winning time of three minutes 27.65 was an Olympic record and a massive personal best by more than three seconds. Kerr posted a big national record 3:27.79 and Yared Nuguse took bronze in another huge pb of 3:27.80 as the U.S. had two men on the podium for the first time in 112 years.
"It might be an upset to a lot of people but if you’ve been following my season you’d know I’d be capable of it," Hocker told reporters.
The time catapulted Hocker to be the seventh-fastest man in history and Kerr the eighth, and even if the hi-tech shoes and track make historical time comparisons difficult, it was still a gripping race.
GREAT RACE
World athletics chief Sebastian Coe, still the only double 1,500m Olympic champion, said last week he was expecting a "race for the ages" and, if it was not the outcome he expected, he certainly got one, as seven of the first nine finalists set personal bests.
The race had been billed as a showdown between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, who have been swapping barbs for a year, and the Norwegian set a scorching pace from the start to lead coming into the last 200.
Briton Kerr, just as he did in last year’s world championships, surged past him as they hit the final straight, however, and looked set for victory, only for Hocker to find a way through.
"Everything had to go my way today but I knew if they gave me a chance I wasn’t going to let it up," Hocker said.
"I figured Ingebrigtsen would try to take it out of guys like me but I knew I hadn’t been tested at this level yet and that I was as strong as they were.
"With 200 to go it was just deafening noise. I lost feeling in my body and it didn’t feel like the Olympics any more - until it did."
Kerr's time was a second faster than Mo Farah's British record and he had no regrets.
"I put a performance out there today which I was extremely proud of," he said. "I ran the best and the fastest tactical 1,500m I have ever done in my life.
"When you start worrying about what everyone else does from the results, you'll never be satisfied. It's obviously not the colour of medal I want but it is working towards the right colour, from bronze to silver."
Ingebrigtsen finished fourth in a time faster than his Olympic record set in Tokyo, but the double world champion over 5,000m has another shot at a medal as he goes in the heats over that distance on Wednesday morning.
"I was starting to get a little bit of gap so kept on pushing but it was just 100m too long today," he said.
"You can't really tell when you're hitting the wall when you hit it. It was just a little bit too early today. The guys finishing in front of me did a great race."
