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American Cole Hocker stuns with Olympic gold in men’s 1,500 meters, upsets Ingebrigsten and Kerr
American Cole Hocker pulled the upset of the Olympics on Tuesday night, beating his personal-best time by almost 3 seconds to outrace favorites Jakob Ingebrigsten and Josh Kerr for the title at 1,500 meters.
Hocker won the race in an Olympic record 3 minutes, 27.65 seconds, pulling from fifth to first over the final 300 meters to take down the two runners whose rivalry dominated the buildup to the much-anticipated race.
“This may be an upset to a lot of people, but if you’ve been following my season, you knew I was capable of it,” Hocker said. “But still, things had to go my way today.”
Hocker, a 23-year-old product of University of Oregon, was listed as much as a 30-1 long shot for this race. He beat Kerr by .14 seconds, while Ingebrigtsen, who set the pace through the first 1250 meters, ended up in fourth behind American Yared Nuguse.
About an hour after that surprise came an American victory most people saw coming when Gabby Thomas powered through the curve to win the 200-meter title in 21.83 seconds. Her .25-second margin over Julien Alfred was .11-second bigger than Hocker’s even though Thomas raced half a lap and Hocker nearly four.
Hocker, who recorded his previous personal best of 3:30.59 at Olympic trials this summer, notched the first U.S. win in the metric mile since Matt Centrowitz took gold in 2016.
This is the first time Americans put two men on the 1,500-meter podium since the Stockholm Games in 1912.
“I kind of figured it would be fast,” Hocker said. “I figured Ingebrigtsen would want to take it out of guys like me. But I knew I hadn’t been tested at this level yet, and I knew I was capable of being as strong as any of those guys out there.”
All eyes for this one were trained on Ingebrigtsen, the defending champion out of Norway who came in with a point to prove, and Kerr, the Scotsman who beat him last year at world championships.
Ever since that win, Kerr and Ingebrigtsen poked at each other. Among the salvos that stuck was Kerr’s assertion that Ingebrigtsen only won races with pacesetters, the likes of which are not allowed at major races like this.
Against that backdrop, Ingebrigtsen darted to the front quickly and ran there for the first 3 1/2 laps, while Kerr traded between second and third, getting ready for his typical windup and a potential slingshot past the Norweigan over the closing stretch, much the way he did last year.
“Of course, it’s a tactical error that I’m not able to reduce my pace the first 800,” Ingebrigtsen said.
While he and Kerr were wearing each other out, Hocker, at 5-foot-9 1/2 and more than 3 1/2 inches shorter than the top two contenders, almost looked like he was trying to photo bomb the end of this race.
As they entered the homestretch, he snuck up on the inside once, only to have Ingebrigtsen block that move.
So, Hocker fell back and wound up for another try with about 50 meters left. Both he and Kerr, who was racing on the outside, passed Ingebrigtsen, then Hocker beat the Scot to the finish line, first with a look of disbelief on his face, but then thumping his chest twice to celebrate a win no one saw coming — maybe except for him.
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Popular gluten free tortilla strips recalled over possible contamination with wheat
A food company known for popular grocery store condiments has recalled a package of tortilla strips that may be contaminated with wheat, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday. The product is meant to be gluten-free.
Sugar Foods, a manufacturing and distribution corporation focused mainly on various toppings, artificial sweeteners and snacks, issued the recall for the “Santa Fe Style” version of tortilla strips sold by the brand Fresh Gourmet.
“People who have a wheat allergy or severe sensitivity to wheat run the risk of serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the product,” said Sugar Foods in an announcement posted by the FDA.
Packages of these tortilla strips with an expiration date as late as June 20, 2025, could contain undeclared wheat, meaning the allergen is not listed as an ingredient on the label. The Fresh Gourmet product is marketed as gluten-free.
Sugar Foods said a customer informed the company on Nov. 19 that packages of the tortilla strips actually contained crispy onions, another Fresh Gourmet product normally sold in a similar container. The brand’s crispy onion product does contain wheat, and that allergen is noted on the label.
No illnesses tied to the packaging mistake have been reported, according to the announcement from Sugar Foods. However, the company is still recalling the tortilla strips as a precaution. The contamination issue may have affected products distributed between Sept. 30 and Nov. 11 in 22 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Sugar Foods has advised anyone with questions about the recall to contact the company’s consumer care department by email or phone.
CBS News reached out to Sugar Foods for more information but did not receive an immediate reply.
This is the latest in a series of food product recalls affected because of contamination issues, although the others involved harmful bacteria. Some recent, high-profile incidents include an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots that killed at least one person in California, and a listeria outbreak that left an infant dead in California and nine people hospitalized across four different states, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The E. coli outbreak is linked to multiple different food brands while the listeria outbreak stemmed from a line of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products sold by Yu-Shang Foods.