One Olympic medal isn’t good enough for Park City’s Grant Fisher, who will be working for another when he laces his spikes back up for the 5,000-meter race this week at the Stade de France.
Fisher took home the bronze just days ago in the 10,000-meter race, becoming the third American medalist in the event. He’ll now look to become our sixth in the 5,000-meter event Saturday, but first are prelims.
Unlike the 25-lap 10,000-meter, the 5,000-meter is just short enough to hold two heats. Fisher will have to claw past 25 of the world’s very best to make Saturday night’s final. The 27-year-old Stanford alum is in heat two Wednesday, featuring 19 other runners, including event-favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway.
Some of Fisher’s toughest competition will include Ingebrigtsen and Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia, who set a best personal-best in the field at 12:36.73 earlier this season. 10,000-meter gold medalist and 5,000-meter world record holder Joshua Kiprui Cheptegei of Uganda dropped out of the event Tuesday, citing fatigue from last Friday’s race.
Regardless, Fisher should be one of the strongest runners in the event. He has a personal-best of 12:46.96, good for third in the field. Traditionally, Finland, Kenya and Ethiopia have dominated the 5,000-meter.
The U.S.’s last 5,000-meter medals came in 2016 and 2020 from Paul Chelimo, who has since retired to focus on the marathon.
Fisher told Olympics personnel after the 10,000-meter that he’s “always been on the outside looking in with the medals.”
Fisher will need to run to the best of his abilities Saturday, having not cracked the 13 minute mark at any major events. In Tokyo in 2021, the top four runners all ran sub-13 minute times, leaving Fisher in ninth.
The 5,000-meter will be one of Paris’ final events before their closing ceremony Sunday night. All heats of the event and the ceremony can be live-streamed on NBC’s Peacock platform at peacocktv.com/sports/olympics.
It is unclear whether Fisher, who will then be 31, will make a push for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. Distance runners are known to have relatively short careers.
