THE 800-METER STAR WHO TRAINS LIKE A MILER

On paper, Bryce Hoppel should not be an 800-meter runner.

His coach will tell you.

“Bryce trains completely differently than any 800 runner I’ve ever coached or any 800 runner I’ve ever talked to,” said Michael Whittlesey, Hoppel’s coach of seven years.

Hoppel, the world indoor champion in the 800 meters, trains much more like a 1500-meter or 3,000-meter specialist than an 800 runner, despite rarely racing above that distance.

Whittlesey doesn’t give Hoppel many pure speed workouts because he’s found that Hoppel doesn’t respond well.

An example: During Hoppel’s breakout sophomore season at the University of Kansas, where he ran a then-personal best of 1:45.67, Whittlesey said he only ran sub-60 seconds for 400 meters about five times in training the whole year. That’s unheard of in an event that’s essentially run like a two-lap all-out sprint.

But the lack of high-intensity speed work doesn’t affect Hoppel’s finishing kick—he never has trouble turning over his legs at the end of races. “His natural foot speed doesn’t need a ton of sharpening,” Whittlesey said. “His competitiveness puts him in that situation.”

On Thursday, Hoppel, 26, will line up for the first of three rounds of the 800 meters at the Olympic Trials. If he’s among the top three runners in the final—set for Sunday, June 30—he’ll qualify for his second Olympic team. He’s expected to win.

But while Hoppel, who’s sponsored by Adidas, has been the top American in the 800 the past three years, he found himself struggling last year with burnout and staleness in training.

Change of Scenery

Toward the end of 2023, Hoppel realized he needed to make a change. He won a U.S. title but finished only seventh at the Budapest World Championships in August. It wasn’t time to hit the panic button, but after training in his college town Lawrence, Kansas, for six years, he felt he needed to switch some things up.

“I fell into a little bit of monotony,” Hoppel told Runner’s World. “I was kind of training on my own, especially when we got into the later part of the season and into the summer.”

So Hoppel did what many professional runners in America do: he moved to the high-altitude running haven of Flagstaff, Arizona. Since November, Hoppel has trained with the Very Nice Track Club and lives with fellow Adidas athletes Hobbs Kessler, Morgan Beadlescomb, and Mason Ferlic.

The setup is a bit unconventional: Hoppel is the only athlete in the group with a primary focus on the 800. But his training often overlaps with the group, especially Kessler, who qualified for the Olympic team in the 1500 meters on Monday night. Hoppel is trained by Whittlesey, while the rest of the group is led by former longtime University of Michigan coach Ron Warhurst.

So far, the setup has worked, and Hoppel has been welcomed by his new teammates.

“We have pretty different training styles, but we overlap [in workouts] when we can,” Kessler said. “[Bryce] is just a calm, collected person who doesn’t get phased easily, and I really think that’s rubbed off on me and helped with my game.”

Don’t expect Hoppel to make a jump up in distance any time soon. While many endurance-based 800-meter runners will race the 1500 meters as well, Hoppel and his coach agree that the half-mile is where his talent shines.

“As long as he can continue to kick with the best at the end of a race, he’s going to continue to stay as an 800-meter runner,” Whittlesey said. “Could he run a really good 1500? Absolutely. But he loves the 800 and his mindset fits the 800.”

Living and training at 7,000 feet has only helped Hoppel, who had never trained at high altitude before. In fact, many 800-meter runners prefer to stay closer to sea level, since altitude can make running at race pace difficult. But Hoppel has adjusted well, increasing the number of threshold workouts he does, which he says has been making him stronger.

“My strength, I think, is kind of going to new levels,” Hoppel said. “I’m able to do some of that threshold work and VO2 [Max] stuff, and it’s been pushing me to new heights.”

But training gains aside, it wasn’t the most important reason for the move.

“I was more so looking for an environment where I could be excited with running again,” Hoppel said. “And I think [running with] Hobbs and those guys, and just training with other professionals has helped me find a love and excitement for the sport again.”

The strength of a world champion

It’s easy to be excited, of course, when you’re winning races. And Hoppel has been winning a lot of them this year.

Hoppel was unflappable during the indoor season, winning the Millrose Games and USATF Indoor Championships in February. He cruised through the preliminary rounds of the 800 at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, teeing up a chance to win his first global championship.

The final was physical; the top three aggressively jostled for position during the opening two laps. But not Hoppel. As his competitors threw elbows, he kept out of trouble, patiently waiting to make his move. As he came around the final bend, he surged past the leader, winning the race comfortably in 1:44.92.

It’s this ability to read a race that has become one of Hoppel’s biggest advantanges—something he’s honed since turning professional in 2019.

“He has a savviness about how to be calm and slide through if he gets boxed in in certain scenarios,” Whittlesey said. “He knows generally how to get out of it and position himself where he needs to be and where he needs to go.”

And when he goes, he goes. Hoppel is tough to shake—he can win a race that goes out in 49 seconds or navigate the field in a sit-and-kick. His physical and mental strength makes him difficult to beat.

Taking the next step

Hoppel’s career at international outdoor championships has been a mixed bag so far. His best placing was fourth at the 2019 Doha World Championships, but he was eliminated in the preliminary rounds of the 2021 Olympics and 2022 World Championships.

This year, though, could be a different story. With his newfound strength and experience at the top level, Hoppel believes he’s put himself in the best position to compete with the best.

“I think this year can be special,” Hoppel said. “With my excitement and how things have been going and how I’ve been racing, I would be disappointed if I wasn’t able to get a medal this year.”

Getting one, however, won’t be easy.

Hoppel’s sole blemish in the 800 this season came on June 2 at the Stockholm Diamond League, where Djamel Sedjati of Alergia dropped the field in the last 100 meters in a world leading time of 1:43.23. Sedjati is a heavy medal favorite, as is Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who set a world lead on June 15 in 1:41.70, and Marco Arop of Canada—last year’s outdoor world champion.

Plus, there’s the fact that American men in the 800 have underperformed in recent decades at the Olympics. In the last 30 years, only one man, Clayton Murphy, has won an Olympic medal in the event, when he took bronze in 2016.

But Hoppel is taking it one race at a time. Winning is a habit, he knows, and he’s looking for his third straight U.S. outdoor title this week.

“I’m going into these Olympic Trials more confident than ever,” Hoppel said. “I’ll be a little disappointed with anything less than winning.”

2024-06-27T22:14:18Z dg43tfdfdgfd