Arop is now two-for-two on winning the 800m races in the men’s short distance group, which has benefitted him in the points standings and allowed him to focus on the 1500m in hopes of inching closer to the overall Slam title. Hoey may not have the accolades of Emmanuel Wanyonyi, but he could be the next-closest guy to challenge for the win in the 800m. Hoey winning or finishing second in the 800m would make him a threat for the Slam title since he did run an impressive 3:33.66 to beat Grant Fisher indoors back in February. The last two men’s short distance 1500m races have not been won faster than 3:34.

• Nia Akins won’t have to travel to race later this month. She’ll be on her alma mater’s track and already ran 2:00.49 in her outdoor opener there to win the 800m at the Penn Relays last month. Akins struggled in her start to 2025 but managed to win the U.S. Indoor Championships in February to qualify for her third U.S. team, reaching the semifinals of the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.

• Isabella Whittaker made her professional debut in Miami and could be rocking a new kit by the time she returns to her alma mater as a Challenger again. Her fourth place showing in 50.38 for 400m and 200m personal best of 22.76 were impressive enough to have various shoe companies calling. (People forget she has also run 2:02 indoors/2:04 outdoors for 800m and has some of the best range in the country.) She finished third in the overall standings in Miami behind only the 400m Olympic gold and silver medalists.

The Hobbs Kessler Factor

Hobbs Kessler was another name that fans bandied around when the Grand Slam Track doubling model was announced for Racers. In 2024, Kessler was the only man in the whole world to make the Olympic semifinals in both the 800m and 1500m. Kessler was bounced in the 800m semis, but it came in his fifth round of racing just days after he finished fifth in the Olympic 1500m final. Just like Hoey, Kessler could be a threat for the Slam title in a variety of race scenarios.

He’ll have his work cut out for him, however. Grand Slam Track has taught us that stellar 1500m runners can also run very good 800ms, and Kessler’s versatility stands out from the crowd a bit less after Miami.

Let’s go back a year ago to May 17, 2024: Kessler wins the 800m at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in a personal best of 1:45.07. He doesn’t run another 800m again until the rounds of the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he goes 1:46.85 in the heats, 1:43.71 in the semifinals and then 1:43.64 in the finals.

But earlier this month, Yared Nuguse, Josh Kerr, and Cole Hocker went 1:44.77–1:45.01–1:45.13 for fourth, fifth, and sixth in the Miami 800m race. Because these guys primarily focus on the 1500m year-round and hadn’t raced a recent hard 800m, there wasn’t a lot to compare with Kessler’s exploits last summer before now.

In Kessler’s favor, however: he’s younger, super talented, and (most importantly) proved his prowess in unpaced races by qualifying through the U.S. system to make both teams. In theory, Kessler is better for the league format than some of his rivals, but that theory will be put to a tough test in Philly.

Kessler’s sharpness at this point in the season is also a big unknown. He won the U.S. indoor 1500m and 3000m titles but opted to skip World Indoors. Some thought that signaled that he would jump into the early Grand Slam Track meets as a Challenger, but he’s just been training in Flagstaff and most recently ran 3:54.34 for the road mile (and lost to 800m Olympic champion and Kingston Slam winner Emmanuel Wanyonyi) at the adidas Road To Records event.

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