Inspired Olli Hoare runs into Commonwealth Games history

Greg Hoare was in tears as his son, Olli, pulled off one of the greatest victories in Commonwealth Games history.

Oliver Hoare, centre, after winning the men's 1500m final at the Alexander Stadium, in Birmingham. Picture: AFP

Greg Hoare was in tears in front of the TV in Sydney as his son, Olli, pulled off one of the greatest victories in Commonwealth Games history.

High in the stands at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium, another of Hoare’s heroes was also on the edge of his seat as Hoare surged on the line to defeat the past two world champions and claim a gold medal in the 1500m.

“It was a sensational run,” said World Athletics boss and middle-distance legend Sebastian Coe, who Hoare describes as “my Michael Jordan”.

Back in Sydney, Greg Hoare was more emotional. “When it happened, we saw it on TV and my wife and I broke down in tears,” he said.

Hoare breasted the line in a Commonwealth Games record time of 3min30.12sec to defeat Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot (3min30.21), with Scotland’s Jake Wightman third (3:30.53sec).

He became just the second Australian to win the historic middle-distance event at a Commonwealth Games, joining the great Herb Elliott, who won the mile at the 1958 Cardiff Games.

Oliver Hoare, left, Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya and Scotland’s Jake Wightman cross the finish line. Picture: Getty Images

It was the sort of out-of-the-blue gold medal that typified Australia’s performance at these Games. The Australian team stands on the brink of a grand total of 1000 Commonwealth Games gold medals after dominating in a host of sports in Birmingham.

And while some of the athletes expected to pick up gold, such as world champion high jumper Eleanor Patterson, have been off the pace, others have stepped up.

Chief among them Hoare, who rose above a disappointing performance at the world athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon, two weeks ago.

But the Birmingham Games have created other heroes – lawn bowler Ellen Ryan, who captured gold in the women’s singles and pairs, Jemima Montag, who left the field in her wake in the 10km race walk, and Mollie O’Callaghan, who muscled the big names of the Australian swim team out of the way, beating Emma McKeon in the 100m freestyle.

Unfortunately, the one person who wasn’t watching Hoare’s historic performance was his grandfather, Fred, his greatest fan and a World War II veteran who passed away last week at the age of 96.

In an emotional post-race interview, Hoare paid tribute to his father and to Fred for their role in guiding him to the top of middle-distance running.

“We had the funeral on Friday, and Olli obviously couldn’t be there, but he wrote a beautiful letter and we read it out at the funeral,” Greg Hoare said.

Mollie O'Callaghan with her gold for the Women's 100m freestyle final. Picture: Getty Images

Fred, a life member of the Sutherland District Athletic Club in Sydney, instilled a love of running in Olli and his father from day one.

“He and Olli were very close, and I think Olli runs a lot on emotion,” Greg said.

“He used to push my dad in the wheelchair on Anzac Day in George St, so to see Olli pay tribute to him after his race was awesome, it was so special.”

Seeing the little boy he used to go running with now conquering the world, Greg found it hard to believe. “I woke up this morning and thought, ‘was that real? Bloody hell, did he just do that? Was that a dream?’.”

“We used to do a lot of runs together through the park when he was a boy. Now they’re comparing him to Herb Elliott, it’s absolutely surreal.”

Greg was no slouch himself, winning a 2km beach run world championship as a representative of North Cronulla Surf Club.

“I dabbled a bit as a runner but I was never good enough to represent Australia.

“I probably didn’t really try enough, whereas with Olli, I gave him all the bits and pieces, but he went and gave it a crack and put in all the hard work.

“When he was a young boy he was always fairly good, he used to get a lot of fourths and fifths.

Bowler Ellen Ryan celebrates gold in the women’s singles and pairs. Picture: Getty Images

“Then one national competition we went down to Adelaide and we had a bit of a chat about believing in yourself, and that was when he won his first nationals.

“To run your fastest time at the Commonwealth Games and take home a Games record, it’s just unreal. I still can’t believe it. I’m still buzzing, I think I slept maybe half an hour at most last night.”

Ralph Doubell, Australia’s last Olympic gold medallist in a middle-distance event, said Hoare’s Games win could usher in a new golden era for Australian athletics.

“It was a very good race, a breakthrough run for Australian athletes,” said Doubell, who won gold in the 800m at the Mexico Olympics in 1968.

“I think there’s a chance of this being a new era. People are beginning to understand that athletics is an exercise in competition, not just an exercise in running fast.”

Doubell said Hoare’s win was made possible by a change in tactics. “For a while there has been this concentration on time as opposed to concentrating on winning, but my attitude was always, you have to win a race as opposed to running fast,” he said.

“I think too often in the last 20 or 30 years, middle-distance runners were worried about the time, but they hadn’t figured out the strategy to go out and win.”