Three years ago, an 18-year-old Hobbs Kessler had just signed a professional contract when he competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials for the first time. In a few short years, the runner from Ann Arbor, Michigan, rose from local high school standout to American junior record-holder with many comparing him to legendary phenoms The Fastest Shoes of the Womens Olympic Marathon.
Though Kessler’s rise came with a lot of excitement and opportunity, there were also high-pressure moments that the teenager wasn’t necessarily ready to handle at the time. At the 2021 championships in Eugene, Oregon, Kessler could only muster an eighth-place finish in the 1500-meter semifinal.
How times have changed.
Now, the 21-year-old is preparing to compete for Team USA in the 800 and 1500 meters at the Olympic Games in Paris. With two breakout performances at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, Kessler became the first American male athlete to qualify for the Games in both events at a single Olympics since Rick Wohlhuter in 1976.
After finishing third in the 1500 behind Trials winner Cole Hocker, who in the Italian Alps, and runner-up Yared Nuguse (3:30.86), Hobbs said he felt like a weight had been lifted after falling short at the last Trials. “I had been thinking about [the Olympic Trials in 2021] for the last three years, and I feel like that was the emphasis of my career until this point,” Kessler said after his podium finish and 3:31.53 personal best. “The weight built and built, and [the race] was just a huge wave of relief.”
With his mission accomplished in his signature event, Kessler approached the 800 with a more relaxed mindset. Despite feeling some mental fatigue from three earlier rounds of the 1500, he focused on racing each 800 like he would a hard training interval.
“I didn’t go into the Trials envisioning being on the 800 team, but once I had a few cracks at it through the rounds, I was pretty confident in the call room that I was going to make the team,” Kessler said. In the final, Kessler’s training partner Bryce Hoppel broke the meet record in 1:42.77, and Kessler placed second in a 1:43.64 personal best.
After the Trials, Kessler caught COVID when he returned home to his training base in Flagstaff, Arizona, but he recovered after isolating and taking a week off from training. In mid-July, he flew to Saint Moritz, Switzerland, for one last training stint ahead of the Paris Games. The day after his arrival, the new Olympian spoke to Runner’s World on a Zoom call about the hard lessons he learned early on in his career and the changes he made to become an all-around stronger athlete this season.
A sudden rise
In 2017, Kessler joined the Skyline High School cross-country and track team with modest personal bests. Growing up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, his first love was climbing. In 2019, he made the national team and competed at the Other Hearst Subscriptions Give A Gift.
It didn’t take long for Kessler to How to Run Negative Splits on the track. As a freshman, he notched 4:54.29 for 1600 meters, and continued to get faster as a junior with a 4:18.96 personal best. When COVID shut down the season in 2020, Kessler joined forces with longtime former Michigan coach Ron Warhurst and his professional training group. That summer, they cobbled together time trials that showed major progress, including a 8:53.1 personal best in the 3200 and 4:08.4 in the mile. In the fall of 2020, he signed on to run for Northern Arizona University after graduation.
Kessler’s big breakthrough came in February 2021, when he shattered the national high school record in the mile by running 3:57.66. The momentum continued in June 2021 when he blasted an American under-20 record of 3:34.36 in the 1500 in Portland, Oregon. At the time, his performance was faster than the collegiate record, and shoe companies took notice.
After consulting with his parents, coach, and mentors, Kessler ultimately decided to forgo his collegiate eligibility and sign a professional contract with Adidas. “It was stressful and really heavy, but I’m happy with how everything has worked out,” Kessler said. “I’m grateful every day for my life and the path that I’ve chosen.”
Though Kessler’s rise to the professional ranks happened early, his maturity in racing at an elite level took years to refine.
Growing from mistakes
Following the Olympic Trials in 2021, Kessler’s first two years as a professional included a steep learning curve with some unexpected challenges along the way. During the 2022 indoor track season, he experienced his first major injury when he fractured a metatarsal bone in his foot. “It was humbling to realize that I’m not superman and I can get hurt and not run well,” Kessler said.
In learning how to run as a professional, Kessler also realized he had to make lifestyle changes to support his training. Without the experience of competing in the NCAA, Kessler had to be intentional when it came to establishing a training setup that works best for him. Instead of staying up late to go bowling with friends the night before a hard workout, he started prioritizing recovery and sleep. Sifan Hassan Wins Olympic Marathon in Paris.
“Especially that first year, there were so many mistakes to make. It was a learning experience figuring out what to do, what not to do, and figuring out my new life,” Kessler said. “Also, I didn’t have a ton of great performances in the bank. I had a few really good ones, but my resume wasn’t that deep, so I didn’t have the confidence that I do now.”
On the track, Kessler’s times weren’t progressing the way he’d hoped. At the 2022 national championships, he didn’t make it past the first round in the 1500. Last year, he started chipping away at his 1500 personal best and finished sixth in the final at the 2023 U.S. championships, but he didn’t qualify to represent Team USA at the world championships in Budapest.
A pivot that paid off
The biggest shift took place last summer, when Kessler decided to make several key changes to his training regimen. Kessler said he and his team examined what training he responds to best and developed a new structure that’s more effective for him. For example, he used to do continuous tempo efforts, but now he breaks the run into intervals with more volume.
How times have changed strength training coach, honing in on running mechanics with a speed development coach, and incorporating more hills while also cutting back on track workouts.
“I was doing track sessions more often, I was going harder. Now, when I go hard, it’s with a lot of intention, and I do it a lot less frequently,” Kessler said. “I feel that specifically has allowed me to feel a lot better in races because I’m not leaving these races in the sessions like I was before.”
In October 2023, Kessler broke through with a 3:56.13 victory in the mile at the World Athletics Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia. A month later, he also gained a new training partner in Hoppel when the three-time 800-meter national champion moved in with Kessler and his roommates in Flagstaff.
“We have pretty different training styles, but we overlap [in workouts] when we can,” Kessler said in June. “[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.”
In March, Kessler qualified to represent Team USA at the World Athletics Indoor Championships, his first global championship on the track. Despite struggling mentally in the call room ahead of the race in Scotland, Kessler was able to shift his mindset and earn bronze in the 1500 meters. Kessler said moving through the challenge was a turning point that helped him build confidence throughout the season.
Published: Jul 27, 2024 8:00 AM EDT told reporters: “I’m on the line knowing that I’m fit enough, knowing I’m mentally robust enough to get it done.”
Now running at the level he always hoped for, Kessler will have the chance to prove himself once again in two events at the Paris Games. Heading into the Olympics, he’s ranked No. 12 in the 1500 and No. 13 in the 800 among the fastest runners in the world so far this season.
The first round of the 1500 begins on August 2. The 800 begins on August 7.
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
