Only the bickering will remain as the men's 1,500 meters will be without one of the marquee names after Jakob Ingebrigtsen withdrew from Sunday's race.
Ingebrigtsen, who won the 5,000 meters Friday, said in an Instagram video Saturday that he is "not in a position right now where I'm able to go back-to-back races."
The decision denies a chance for Ingebrigtsen to face off against mile world-record holder Josh Kerr and surprising 2024 Olympic champion and American Cole Hocker in a race where the winner gets a check for $150,000.
Up until this year, Hocker had mostly been a silent bystander in a feud between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr. That tension was the entire story heading into Paris, and when Hocker barged through on the inside to win the gold medal, everyone was stunned.
Ingebrigtsen brought Hocker into the fray two weeks ago after a Diamond League race in Brussels. He called the Americans "cowards," accusing them of playing games with the pacemakers for the 1,500 meters, which resulted in a slower, more "tactical" race than Ingebrigtsen expected. Neither runner finished on the podium.
"We have to have an open dialogue and communication on things we feel are right or wrong," Ingebrigtsen said Friday night after beating Hocker in the 5,000 meters. "And if opening your mouth is creating a war or creating a fight, then that's not my problem."
Hocker has been trying to move on. Asked after the 5,000 on Friday if he respected Ingebrigtsen or thought Ingebrigtsen respected him, Hocker said, "I'm not going to try to guess what he thinks of us."
"I think everyone on the start line for a global final deserves a lot of respect, and you can have opinions on the race and how it goes," Hocker said.
The disagreement with Hocker came just as Ingebrigtsen's latest flare-up involving Kerr seemed to be dying down.
Kerr passed on the 1,500 this season, the distance for most four-lap races in elite track, to pursue the world record in the slightly longer and more iconic mile.
"If opening your mouth is creating a war or creating a fight, then that's not my problem." Jakob Ingebrigtsen, on his ongoing feud with other star track runners
He ran 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds at a Diamond League meet in London in July to break Hicham El Guerrouj's 27-year-old record. He also won the mile at the Commonwealth Games. He did not, however, compete at European Championships, which staged a 1,500-meter race. Ingebrigtsen was not pleased.
"I definitely think it is ruining the sport if we are not participating," Ingebrigtsen said. "We all have different plans, but I could never see myself in that position."
Kerr received a special invitation to run the 1,500 this week and extended his season by six weeks to accept.
"Always under criticism," Kerr said. "What's been fun for me about this process is this is still an individual sport. It's not a sport where we're forced into certain racing strategies. Every person's different and every athlete's different in the way they approach the season."
Ingebrigtsen's win Friday night in the 5,000 -- his better race over the years -- was nothing short of remarkable. It came with limited training in the aftermath of surgery in February to remove built-up scar tissue on his left Achilles. A World Athletics pre-race statistical analysis predicted he would come in 12th.
"So much to prove," Ingebrigtsen said. "What more can I do?"
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
