Oliver Hoare

Fast Facts

Sport: Athletics
Event: 1500m
Olympic History: Olympic debutant
Highlights: Australian indoor 1500m and indoor/outdoor mile record holder
Year Born: 1997
State Born: NSW

About Oliver

Running fast has always been in the life of Sutherland athlete Ollie Hoare. His sharp rise in the last few years has seen him trade his running surface from sand to track as he makes his Olympic debut in Tokyo aged 24.

“I started running because of my family background,” Ollie Hoare recalled. “Mostly I swam, and my father Greg, who used to run in his youth, took me for runs around the trails. As a child, I did cross country while juggling many other sports.”

Ollie’s father Greg was a good track runner and world beach running champion over 2km, a pathway Ollie also followed winning the U15 (2012) and U17 (2013) 2km beach run at the Australian titles along with team medals in the swim and board races. He also swam at State level.

Although still swimming in his teens, soon athletics became the focus.

“Once I reached high school, I really started to develop as a runner, particularly in track. I won the 2015 Australian cross-country championships as a 17-year-old competing in under 20s. I loved the thrill and knew I had to fully focus on track and cross country.” Initially he went to high school locally before transferring to the leading Combined Associated School Trinity Grammar, where he came under the coaching of Brad Woods and a strong sports system.

At a neighbouring school to Trinity was Newington’s Morgan McDonald, who was a year older and a good friend of Hoare. They raced during their teens and it would be no surprise McDonald would have a strong influence on the career of Hoare. McDonald was a four-time NCAA champion competing for the University of Wisconsin and it was natural Hoare would follow him to the same institution.

“I have known Morgan since I was ten, running at the National cross country championships in Perth in 2007-8. Since then Morgan has been a mentor and a good mate. We have a lot of good times and banter. He was a big reason I went to Wisconsin. The school’s heritage, academics as well as the coaching was a major factor too, but having Morgan there was huge for me to learn from him and to run with a fellow Aussie over in the states.”

In college Hoare followed as similar successful path as McDonald, winning the NCAA 1500m title in 2018. 

In 2019 Hoare smashed his personal bests including an extraordinary 3:54.83 indoors mile at Millrose. Set for a big 2020, COVID hit. He graduated with a degree in economics, but decided to leave the college running system. 

Now out of college in August he joined the ‘On Training’ group under coach Dathan Ritzenhein, training out of Colorado. Late in 2020 he resumed racing including a massive 1500m PB of 3:34.63, an Olympic qualifier, although not in the qualification window. He also ran a world leading mile time of 3:53.35. In an unofficial race he also clocked the first sub-4 minute mile (3:56) at altitude (1600m) in Colorado.

After a return to Australia in late 2020 to sort out visa issues, in early 2021 he undertook a stunning series of races in the US. It started with an Australian indoor 1500m record of 3:32.35, then two more Olympic qualifiers, both outdoors in times of 3:33.54 and 3:33.19.

He had been unable to return to Australian for the April 2021 National Championships/Olympic trials, but was still selected for his Olympic debut.

In Tokyo, Hoare joined national 1500m record holder Stewart McSweyn in the Olympic 1500m final, where he placed 11th. It was the first occasion in 65 years, since the 1956 Olympics, that Australia had two in the final of this event.