On Sunday, Bryce Hoppel won his first-ever World Indoor Championships 800-meter title. He is only the third American man ever to win the event.
Hoppel surged late after hanging in the middle of the pack for much of the race. His final time was a world-leading 1:44.92. When he was a Kansas Jayhawk, Hoppel was a five-time All-American, two-time National Champion and four-time Big 12 Champion.
In 2019, Hoppel completed a sweep of both the indoor and outdoor NCAA 800 meter titles, becoming the first male from the University of Kansas to win an NCAA title in the event. Now, at 26 years old, Bryce Hoppel has secured his first world title.
Sweden’s Andreas Kramer placed second (1:45.27) to claim silver, while Belgium’s Eliott Crestan took bronze (1:45.32). Hoppel also won his heat race on Friday with a time of 1:46.15.
Hoppel put in special training this year, training in Flagstaff, Ariz. The high-altitude training seemingly paid dividends, with Hoppel hitting his peak pace in the final stretch of the race. He is now ranked No. 8 in the world.
While the win was Hoppel’s first place finish at the World Indoor Championships, it wasn’t his first placing. Hoppel secured another medal at the World Indoor Championships after he claimed bronze at the 2022 meet in Belgrade, Serbia.
Bryce Hoppel is joined by another American winner
Hoppel isn’t the only American finding success at the meet. Former Georgia and Texas track and field star Tara Davis-Woodhall claimed the gold medal in the long jump at the World Indoor Championships. Davis-Woodhall cleared 7.07 meters on her jump, which isn’t even her best jump this year.
Her best jump came at the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships, as she jumped 7.18 meters, which led the world at the time. She has won every indoor meet she has participated in this year. The track star has a lot to work toward after a tumultuous year.
She finished in second place in Budapest in August, but she has been blunt that she felt she could do more.
“I always want to be on top and I have to give myself a chance to do that this year,” she said in a telephone interview last week with the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve dialed in so much more than I ever have before. … I was saying all offseason that I just have to put something out there so far that no one can touch it.”
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