PARIS, France – Despite a challenging final lap, Grant Fisher surged from seventh place to secure a bronze medal in the men’s 5000m final. Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen clinched the gold with a time of 13:13.66, while Kenya’s Ronald Kwemoi took home the silver.
This marks Fisher’s second bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Beginning the race close to the front, Fisher quickly established a strong pace and held second position after the first two laps. The athlete from Grand Blanc, Michigan, maintained a top-three spot through the initial third of the race.
As they approached the halfway mark, the competitors were tightly packed, with Ethiopia’s Addisu Yihune leading the pack. With two laps remaining, two Ethiopian runners occupied the first two positions, and Fisher was positioned in third.
Although he seemed to struggle in the final stretch, Fisher executed a last-minute surge to secure his bronze medal, while Ingebrigtsen and Kwemoi finished ahead of him.
In a discussion shortly after becoming the fourth American male to earn a medal in the 10,000-meter event, Fisher shared insights about his transition to training in Park City, Utah. “I moved to Utah on my own. I didn’t really know anybody,” he said. “All I had was my coach… I didn’t know who I was going to train with or what community I was going to be part of, and a lot of people in Utah kind of adopted me as their own.”
Fisher praised the training environment and community in Utah, stating, “It’s a fantastic place to train, a fantastic place to live.” He expressed that his move to Utah played a significant role in achieving his Olympic success.
Previously, Fisher competed in the Tokyo Olympics, but his experience in Paris proved to be much more rewarding. The Utah Olympic marathoner Jared Ward initiated a program for elite runners in the area, aiming to attract high-performance athletes. Fisher took part in this initiative, leading to his current status as an Olympic medalist.