Grant Fisher (born April 22, 1997) is a Canadian-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional middle- and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

. He placed fifth in the

10,000 meters The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

and fourth at the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the f ...

. Fisher holds North American records in the

3000 meters The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

, 5000 m, and 10,000 m as well as the indoor record for the 5000 m, all set in 2022. As a high-schooler, he was named

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

for cross country for the 2013–2014 and 2014–2015 seasons. On June 4, 2015, he became the seventh American high school student to run a mile under four minutes. An eleven-time All-American, Fisher won the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field 5000 m championship (14:35.60), becoming the first American underclassman to do so in 28 years. The following year, he placed third in the same event with a time of 13:55.04, just missing

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

's Justyn Knight (13:55.03) and his

Stanford Cardinal The Stanford Cardinal are the athletic teams that represent Stanford University. As of June, 2022, Stanford's program has won 131 NCAA team championships. Stanford has won at least one NCAA team championship each academic year for 46 consecutive ...

teammate

Sean McGorty Sean McGorty (born March 8, 1995) is an American runner who specializes in middle-distance and long-distance events. He ran for the United States at the 2014 NACAC Cross Country Championships, where he won the junior men's race. He competed in N ...

(13:54.81).

Running career

Early life and high school

While living in

Grand Blanc, Michigan Grand Blanc is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 7,784 as of the 2020 US Census. History The unincorporated village of Grand Blanc, or Grumlaw, was a former Indian campground firs ...

, Fisher began running in the spring of his seventh grade year, after joining his middle school cross country team. When he became a freshman in high school, Fisher joined both the soccer and cross country teams, where he made varsity for both. In 2011, Fisher qualified for the state cross country meet and ran a 16:14 to finish 28th. In the Spring of 2012, he qualified for the state meet in the 1600 meter run, he ran a 4:30.23. In the fall of his sophomore year (November 2012), he missed the Michigan state cross country meet because he had to play for his soccer team in the state finals game. In the spring of 2013, he ran personal bests of 3:50.30 at the

IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics The IAAF U18 Championships in Athletics (until 2015 known as IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics) was a global athletics event comprising track and field events for competitors who were 17 or younger (youth = Under-18). The event was orga ...

in the 1500 meter run, 4:11.27 in the 1600 meter at the KLAA Lakes Conference Meet, 4:12.74 in the mile run at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals meet, and 8:32.65 in the 3000 at the USATF World Youth Trials, and 9:04.33 in the 3200 at the

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

state meet. In the fall of his junior year (2013), he had personal bests of 15:02 at the Foot Locker Midwest Regional to win the event. Fisher then went on to the Foot Locker Nationals, which he won as well. In the spring of his junior year (2014), Fisher set personal bests of 1:55.76 in the 800 meter run, 3:49.62 in the 1500 meters at the World Junior Championships, 4:10.82 in the 1600 meter to win the division one state meet in

, a 4:02.02 in the mile to win the event at the Adidas Grand Prix, 8:55.75 in the 3200 meter run to win JD's Invitational, and an 8:51.28 in the two mile run to win the event at the Brooks PR Invitational. The fall of his senior year (2014), Fisher ran a 14:43.00 to win the Portage Invitational and a 15:03 to win 2014 Foot Locker Nationals. This victory made Fisher one of only 5 boys to ever win two Foot Locker national titles (the others included Abdirizak Mohamud,

Lukas Verzbicas Lukas Verzbicas (born ''Lukas Veržbickas'' January 6, 1993 in Kaunas, Lithuania) is an American triathlete. A prominent high school track and cross country runner, Verzbicas holds the U.S. high school national record in the 2 mile with a time of ...

Edward Cheserek Edward Cheserek (born 2 February 1994) is a Kenyan distance runner. He is a 17-time NCAA champion collegiate distance runner for the University of Oregon. Cheserek was the most highly recruited high school distance runner in the nation out of Sain ...

, and

Dathan Ritzenhein Dathan James Ritzenhein (born December 30, 1982) is a retired American long-distance runner, and current head coach of On Athletics Club. He held the American record in the 5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009-2010, when it was broken by Bernard ...

). In Spring of 2015, Grant Fisher became the 7th high school athlete to break 4 minutes in the mile, tying Matthew Maton's time of 3:59.38.

Collegiate

Fisher committed to run at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

on November 16, 2014. At the end of his freshman year cross country season at Stanford, Fisher placed 17th overall at the 2015 NCAA DI XC Championships in 30:07.9. In the winter 2015-16 indoor season, Fisher won 3000 meters on February 13, 2016, in Seattle (2016 Husky Classic) with a personal best 7:50.06. At the

2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were the 96th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 36th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held for the fifth consecutive year ...

, Fisher won the 5000 meters race. The race was tactical and his time of 14:35.60 was the slowest winning mark in an NCAA final since 1995. It also made Fisher the first American underclassmen to win the NCAA title in 28 years. Fisher placed 5th at the

2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships The 2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships was the 79th annual NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 37th annual NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship to determine the team and individual national champio ...

. At the

2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were the 97th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 37th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held for the sixth consecutive year ...

, Fisher placed 3rd in the 5000m behind Stanford Cardinal men's track and field teammate and 2018 5000 meters champion

. Fisher placed 2nd at 2018 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships leading

s to a 5th-place team finish. Fisher placed 2nd in DMR with Stanford Cardinal teammates (Alex Ostberg, Isaiah Brandt-Sims, Isaac Cortes, Grant Fisher) and 3000 meters at

2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 55th NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 38th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Birmingham Crossplex in Bi ...

. Fisher earned twelve

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

awards from the

USTFCCCA The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) is a New Orleans, Louisiana-based professional association representing men's and women's cross country and track & field coaches in the United States. The organization has abo ...

Professional career

2020 Fisher placed 4th in the 3000m at the Boston University Last Chance Invitational on February 27, 2020. His teammates

Lopez Lomong Lopez Lomong (born January 5, 1985) is a South Sudanese-born American track and field athlete. Lomong, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, came to the United States at the age of 16 and became a U.S. citizen in 2007. Lomong qualified for the 2008 Su ...

Ryan Hill Ryan Hill (born January 31, 1990) is an American long-distance runner. Hill was a silver medalist at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships after finishing second in the 3,000 meters. He represented the United States at the 2009 IAAF World Cros ...

, and

Evan Jager Evan Reese Jager (born March 8, 1989) is an American distance runner. He won the silver medal in the 3000 metres steeplechase at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a bronze at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. Jager is the current NACAC area ...

finished ahead of him. Grant's time of 7:39.99 was a PR for the distance and his first time under 7:40. In the summer of 2020, Bowerman Track Club held several intrasquad meets in due to the lack of the races during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. During these races, Fisher set new PRs of 3:36.23 for 1500m and 13:11.68 for 5000m. He was also part of the team who broke the American Record in 14:34.97. The meets were held in undisclosed locations around Portland, Oregon. 2021 Fisher opened up his 2021 season with a 3000m PR of 7:37.21, finishing second to teammate

Marc Scott Marc Scott (born 21 December 1993) is a British long-distance runner. He took his first global medal with bronze in the 3000 metres at the 2022 World Indoor Championships. He is the current European record holder in the indoor 5000 metres and ...

. Fisher ran this time at the Prickly Pear Invitational in Phoenix, AZ on February 6, 2021. Fisher ran a new 10000m PR of 27:11.29 on February 20, 2021, at the TEN invitational meet in Los Angeles, CA. Again finishing second to Scott, the time made Fisher the fifth fastest American ever over the distance and met the Olympic qualifying standard. On March 6, 2021, Fisher won the Men's 5000m at the Sound Running Invite in Southern California. His time of 13:02.53 was a personal record and the 13th fastest time ever run by an American. Fisher went through 3000 meters in 7:55.20 and his last lap of 55.38 was the fastest in the field by over 2 seconds. Fisher finished 4th in the 1500m at the Track Meet in Irvine, California held on May 15 with a time of 3:36.52. His Bowerman teammate Matthew Centrowitz won the race. As a final tune-up for the Olympic trials, he won the second heat of the Portland Track Festival 5000m on May 29 in a meet record 13:19.52 over teammate

Woody Kincaid William "Woody" Kincaid (born September 21, 1992) is an American long-distance runner. He won the gold medal for the 5000 meters at the 2022 NACAC Championships. Kincaid is the North American indoor record holder in that event. High school Woo ...

. The meet record was formerly held by Dathan Ritzenhein from his 13:19.78 performance in the 2012 edition of the meet. Fisher finished second in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials 10,000m to make his first Olympic team. The meet was held at the reconstructed Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon with Fisher's race taking place on the first day of competition, June 18. It was a close finish between 1st placer Kincaid (27:53.62) and 3rd placer Joe Klecker of On Running (27:54.90) while Fisher ran 27:54.29. All three qualifiers ran their last lap in under 55 seconds, with Kincaid having the fastest last lap of 53.47. The top three were well ahead of 4th placer Ben True, 4 seconds back from Klecker. Fisher doubled back in the 5000m on June 27 at the trials to take second in 13:27.01 behind 2016 Olympic silver medalist

Paul Chelimo Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo (born October 27, 1990) is an Kenyan born American track and field athlete. He is the 2016 Olympic silver medalist and the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in the 5000 meters. Career Born and brought up in Kenya Chelimo initi ...

and just ahead of teammate Kincaid. Fisher's time was 13:27.01 as just .31 seconds separated the top 3. Kincaid had the fastest last lap of the field in 52.74 and all three qualifiers closed under 53 seconds, a finish that is usually world class. Oregon's Cooper Teare finished 4th in 13:28.08. Fisher and Kincaid opted to run both events in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, Fisher finished the 10,000m event with a time of 27:46.39, placing 5th overall and the fastest American in the field. He returned to the track to finish 9th in the

5000m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Athletics at the Summer Olympics, Olympic Games and the World Championships in At ...

event with a time of 13:08.40. 2022 Fisher opened his 2022 season on February 12 at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational by setting a new American indoor record in the 5000m with a time of 12:53.73, beating the previous American record held by Galen Rupp of 13:01.26. On March 6, he won "The Ten" at the Sound Running Invite as his second race of the season. His time of 26:33.84 set a new American outdoor record and a North American Record in the 10,000m. This time makes him 7th on the all-time list for the 10,000m distance. On May 27, Fisher got second in the USATF 10k championship with a time of 28.28.81. On June 26, he won the USATF 5k Championship with a time of 13:03.86. On July 17, he placed fourth in the 10,000m at the

. Fisher set four North American records that year (also in the outdoor 3000m and 5000m), and became the first American to break 12:50 in the 5000m and 26:40 in the 10,000m.

Major competition record

Personal life

Grant Fisher was born in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

, on April 22, 1997, to Dan and Sonia Fisher. He has an older sister, Hailey, and a younger brother, Mark. He grew up in

and attended Stanford University in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish language, Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree kno ...

. In addition to running, Fisher was an avid soccer player. He began playing the sport when he was four years old and in high school was a member of the Michigan Wolves, an elite level club team. Fisher now lives in Portland, Oregon, and trains with the Bowerman Track Club under the guidance of Coach

Jerry Schumacher Jerry Schumacher is an American coach for the University of Oregon track and field and cross country program, specializing in distance running. He has coached Olympic silver medalist and the former American women's 10k record holder Shalane Flanaga ...

Personal records

High school

* 800 m: 1:55.76 * 1500 m: 3:42.89 ** 1500 m indoor: 3:46.41 * 1600 m: 4:00.08 * One Mile: 3:59.38 ** One Mile indoor: 4:03.24 Boys High School Indoor Track and Field Mile Championship - Near Wipe Out
/ref> * 3000 m: 8:32.65 * 3200 m: 8:53.41 * Two Mile: 8:43.57 * 5000 m: 14:43.00 ** 5000 m indoor: 14:51.19

Collegiate

* 800 m: 1:51.86 * 1500 m: 3:39.60 ** 3000 m indoor: 7:42.62 * 5000 m: 13:29.52 * 8K (XC): 23:09.8 * 10K (XC): 29:08.8

Professional

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

profile. * 1500 m: 3:35.53 (2022) * 3000 m: 7:28.48 (2022) North American record * 5000 m: 12:46.96 (2022) North American record ** 5000 m indoor: 12:53.73 (2022) North American record * 10000 m: 26:33.84 (2022) North American record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fisher, Grant 1997 births Living people American male long-distance runners Athletes from Calgary People from Grand Blanc, Michigan Stanford Cardinal men's track and field athletes American male middle-distance runners Stanford Cardinal men's cross country runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic male long-distance runners Olympic track and field athletes of the United States USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States