ANOTHER OLYMPICS, another 5K/10K double for Grant Fisher. The key difference between Tokyo and Paris, however, is that this time he will arrive as the U.S. champion (and, of course, the American Recordholder) in both. Three years ago he collected a pair of Trials silvers, and this go-round he traded up for golds. On the first day of competition, he reversed his ’21 loss to Woody Kincaid in the 10,000; on the last, he held off Abdihamid Nur for the 5000 crown.
Fisher launched his 5K bid from a mile out, lowering the per-lap pace from 64–65 second range down to 61.17. Only Nur, the ’23 USA champ, could answer, with a 61.77, and the pair then engaged in an epic battle that will be forever remembered. For the next two laps, Nur stayed right on Fisher’s shoulder — Fisher clocked 59.95, Nur 59.96, and then Nur edged slightly closer, 61.26 to Fisher’s 61.30.
With about 280m remaining, Nur went for it and moved ahead. For the briefest of moments, it seemed like Nur’s push would be decisive, but Fisher fought back. With 100 to go, Fisher reclaimed the lead as the Hayward Field crowd went bonkers. Nur still refused to surrender, very nearly regaining the lead with 50 left, but couldn’t quite do it. Fisher clocked a Trials record 13:08.85; Nur was only 0.16 back. Fisher’s time removed Galen Rupp’s 13:22.67 in ’12 from the books.
Behind them, North Carolina junior Parker Wolfe continued his rapid maturation toward stardom, outsprinting Graham Blanks for the bronze, 13:10.75 (PR)–13:12.61. However, Wolfe may have to wait another 4 years for Olympic glory — the Olympic standard is 13:05.00, which Blanks has achieved but Wolfe has not. Neither came into the meet with high placings in the WA rankings.
Two of the premeet favorites, Cole Hocker and Kincaid, faded when Fisher began his final drive. Kincaid led through the first 2K, and both were still in the hunt at 3K, but eventually slipped to 7th and 9th. Neither will feel too bad — Hocker won the 1500 and Kincaid was runner-up in the 10K, so both have tickets to Paris. Hocker training mate Cooper Teare, No. 5 on the T&FN formchart, likewise drifted off the pace after 3K and finished 12th.
“It was hard,” Fisher said of his long run home. “I’m pretty tired right now. That’s 20,000 meters of race in my legs. I gave it everything I had, these guys made it really quick, and I did what I could to keep it going that way. To get double gold feels good and I’m going to Paris twice.”
MEN’S 5000 RESULTS
FINAL (June 30)
1. Grant Fisher (Nike) 13:08.85 (MR)
(30.98, 66.68 [1:37.66], 66.44 [2:44.10], 65.27 [3:49.37], 61.58 [4:50.95], 62.51 [5:53.46], 63.68 [6:57.14], 66.79 [8:03.93], 64.95 [9:08.88], 61.17 [10:10.05], 59.95 [11:10.00], 61.30 [12:11.30], 57.55) (13.42, 27.64, 57.55, 1:58.85, 3:59.97, 5:04.92);
2. Abdihamid Nur (Nike) 13:09.01 (13.55, 27.93, 57.54, 1:58.80, 4:00.53);
3. Parker Wolfe (NC) 13:10.75 (14.03, 27.51, 55.38, 1:55.33, 4:01.65);
4. Graham Blanks (NBal) 13:12.61 (57.07, 1:57.02, 4:03.28);
5. Dylan Jacobs (On) 13:17.26 (59.58, 2:01.53, 4:08.34);
6. Sean McGorty (NikeBowTC) 13:18.27;
7. Cole Hocker (Nike) 13:20.99;
8. Ahmed Muhumed (HOKA) 13:29.23;
9. Woody Kincaid (Nike) 13:31.40; 10. Olin Hacker (HOKA) 13:32.10; 11. Morgan Beadlescomb (adidas) 13:37.69; 12. Cooper Teare (Nike) 13:42.50; 13. Willy Fink (UArm) 13:43.32; 14. Eric van der Els (ZapE) 13:50.66; 15. Kasey Knevelbaard (UArm) 13:51.29; 16. Sam Prakel (adidas) 14:17.87.
HEATS (June 27)
I–1. Hocker 13:33.45; 2. Wolfe 13:33.96; 3. Teare 13:34.07; 4. Beadlescomb 13:34.34; 5. Hacker 13:34.72; 6. Blanks 13:35.00; 7. Thomas Ratcliffe (NikeBowTC) 13:35.13; 8. Benjamin Veatch (UArmDS) 13:35.37; 9. Casey Clinger (BYU) 13:36.35; 10. Robert Liking (Wi) 13:38.50; 11. John Reniewicki (UArmMRB) 13:38.83; 12. Paul Chelimo (AMD) 13:39.90; 13. Alex Maier (OkSt) 13:40.03; 14. Dillon Maggard (BrkB) 13:41.51; 15. Travis Mahoney (unat) 13:41.79; 16. Tom Brady (Mi) 13:49.85.
II–1. Kincaid 13:23.91; 2. Nur 13:24.14; 3. Fisher 13:24.78; 4. Jacobs 13:24.91; 5. Prakel 13:25.01; 6. McGorty 13:25.05; 7. Knevelbaard 13:25.13; 8. Muhumed 13:25.78; 9. Fink 13:26.04; 10. van der Els 13:26.47; 11. Anthony Rotich (NikeUSAr) 13:27.44; 12. Anthony Camerieri (TinE) 13:31.41; 13. Tai Dinger (WiRRT) 13:31.56; 14. Brian Barraza (RootsRP) 13:39.21.
