In the men’s 10,000-meter Olympic competition, American Grant Fisher unexpectedly wins bronze.
American Grant Fisher won bronze in the fastest race in Olympic history, improving on his fifth-place result from Tokyo with a pace of 26:43.46.
Over the past ten or so years, the American men have mostly disappeared from the scene when it comes to the Olympic long-distance event.
That didn’t sit well with Grant Fisher.
At the Stade de France, which is located outside of Paris, on Friday night, Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi leaned past Fisher at the finish line to clock a time of 26:43.44, earning Fisher the bronze medal in a photo finish. Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda broke the previous Olympic record of 27:01.17 to win gold in 26:43.14.
“I’ve previously been quite close to the medals. However, I didn’t receive one till today.”
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He carried it out elegantly.
It was obvious from the gun that the pace could establish a record. Fisher was able to capitalize on that, beating his personal best time by over 8 seconds to win a medal. It was Team USA’s first medal in the 10,000 meters since 2012 London Olympics silver medallist Galen Rupp.
American competitors William Kincaid (27:29.40) and Nico Young (26:58.11) placed 12th and 16th, respectively.
“You just can’t run with East Africans, you can’t run with the Europeans,” was the story told to me as a child. I hope I proved that,” Fisher stated, going on to say that he began to realize he belonged on the international scene following his first Olympics in Tokyo. “I hope people see as my mindset shifts, America’s can as well.”
With an enormous smile on his face and the American flag wrapped over his shoulders, a cheerful 27-year-old Fisher circled Stade de France in a victory lap following the race. You would never guess that he had only completed 25 laps of the course.
At the Paris Games, Fisher’s medal marks the first track victory for Team USA. He is only the second male American to win an Olympic medal in the 10,000 meters in 56 years, the other being Rupp.
“A lot of things need to go right to be on the podium,” remarked Fisher, an Olympic fifth-place finisher in the 10,000 meters. “I’m happy that they did.”
Fisher won his first medal at a significant global competition on Friday. He placed sixth in the 5,000 and fourth in the 10,000 at the Eugene, 2022 World Championships. After running on a stress fracture and finishing fourth at nationals, he was unable to compete in the Budapest 2023 World Championships.
Prior to the Olympics in Paris, Fisher expressed his desire to win a medal and his confidence in his ability to accomplish so, despite having the 11th fastest time of the season going into the competition.
Cheptegei said to Fisher after the race, “You really fought for it.”
Here, Fisher will also be competing in the 5,000. That race has preliminary round on August 7 and final round on August 10. In both the 5,000 and 10,000, Fisher holds the American record.
In the 5,000, Fisher plans to attempt to emulate an American medal trend: Paul Chelimo of Team USA took home silver and bronze at the Rio and Tokyo Games, respectively.
The world record holder for the event, Uganda’s Cheptegei, stopped time to win gold in an Olympic record of 26:43.14, while Ethiopia’s Aregawi took home silver in 26:43.44.
Prior to being overtaken in the last meter, Fisher was expected to finish in second place.
Even though he tripped somewhere in the middle of the hectic 25 laps, the former Stanford NCAA champion remained in the race the entire time, never allowing himself to drop out of the top five.
Late in the race, he also turned his ankle and stepped on the course.
Fisher made his move with less than 150 meters remaining, seizing the opportunity to surge all the way into second place before being outpaced at the line and crossing in 26:43.46.
Fisher exacted revenge for his fifth-place finish in Tokyo, where the race also hinged on a furious final lap, by closing in the fastest 10,000 m in Olympic history in just under 55 seconds. He finished the 1,000 meters in roughly 2:27.
In a few days, the American record holder will return to competition when the 5,000-meter opening round takes place on Wednesday, August 7.
