I admire Grant as one of the greatest US long distance runners, but he is passed his prime, and probably losing his passion for the sport. Will be highly surprised if he ever medals again.
It seems as though your ability to communicate in grammatically correct English is past its prime.
it was easy to see, Hocker cleverly ate some bicarb and was the only one who had a kick. Literally everyone else was fighting to keep moving on the last lap, nobody had any speed.
So not only in the 800 but every middle distance event, you will have to eat bicarb to win. Give Grant some bicarb and he'll be fine. Nico Young too, though he will still look like he is in agony.
In a tactical race, Grant’s not as competitive as when it’s honest. We’ve seen that at the national level (albeit at USAs that means he’s not winning but still top 3), so why would worlds be any different? 10k was extremely slow. If I told you the 10k would be won in 28:55, are you picking grant for a medal? I’m not.
5k wasn’t purely tactical but with that many guys in the lead pack with a lap to go, do you really expect him to finish top 3? If I told you the list of guys there at the bell (Young, Mehary, Gressier, Hocker, Robinson, etc.) are you picking him for top 3? I’m not
Grant’s best shot at medals is when the pace is fairly fast, the lead pack at the bell is 4-5 guys, and he can out kick guys who are out of gas for medals. We saw that in Paris. Not in Tokyo. Has nothing to do with him being past his prime.
Worth noting that the Paris 5k was slower than this and a very tactical affair, and Fisher was in 8th at the bell with plenty of people around, and he still outkicked everybody except for Jakob and Kwemoi for bronze. Of course, that is not a scenario that can be reliably replicated, but it’s not impossible for him to medal in these scenarios at all, and it makes me think this year was more of an issue than just the type of race.
In a tactical race, Grant’s not as competitive as when it’s honest. We’ve seen that at the national level (albeit at USAs that means he’s not winning but still top 3), so why would worlds be any different? 10k was extremely slow. If I told you the 10k would be won in 28:55, are you picking grant for a medal? I’m not.
5k wasn’t purely tactical but with that many guys in the lead pack with a lap to go, do you really expect him to finish top 3? If I told you the list of guys there at the bell (Young, Mehary, Gressier, Hocker, Robinson, etc.) are you picking him for top 3? I’m not
Grant’s best shot at medals is when the pace is fairly fast, the lead pack at the bell is 4-5 guys, and he can out kick guys who are out of gas for medals. We saw that in Paris. Not in Tokyo. Has nothing to do with him being past his prime.
Worth noting that the Paris 5k was slower than this and a very tactical affair, and Fisher was in 8th at the bell with plenty of people around, and he still outkicked everybody except for Jakob and Kwemoi for bronze. Of course, that is not a scenario that can be reliably replicated, but it’s not impossible for him to medal in these scenarios at all, and it makes me think this year was more of an issue than just the type of race.
It’s not like Fisher can’t close. He closed in 51 at GSL. There’s just so many fast guys now that every year it is anyone’s race.
In a tactical race, Grant’s not as competitive as when it’s honest. We’ve seen that at the national level (albeit at USAs that means he’s not winning but still top 3), so why would worlds be any different? 10k was extremely slow. If I told you the 10k would be won in 28:55, are you picking grant for a medal? I’m not.
5k wasn’t purely tactical but with that many guys in the lead pack with a lap to go, do you really expect him to finish top 3? If I told you the list of guys there at the bell (Young, Mehary, Gressier, Hocker, Robinson, etc.) are you picking him for top 3? I’m not
Grant’s best shot at medals is when the pace is fairly fast, the lead pack at the bell is 4-5 guys, and he can out kick guys who are out of gas for medals. We saw that in Paris. Not in Tokyo. Has nothing to do with him being past his prime.
Agreed. I don't blame him for going out and running some fast miles (3:48) this season to help convince himself he's checked off the speed box and give him that confidence in a fast close. However, with what we just saw, I'm curious if it really mattered? Granted, maybe without the speed component he's not even 8th. And hey, let's not act like 8th in that kind of field isn't pretty solid.
I wish Grant would move to the marathon before he's too far past his prime.
The most sensible thing for Fisher, seemingly, would be to stay on the track through 2028 and then try to make another Olympic team in the marathon in 2032.
I will be a little disappointed if he doesn’t race a half marathon in 2026, though. With it being a non-championship year after an unprecedented 5-year stretch of championships, it’s the perfect opportunity for World XC and a fast half debut.
What I don’t understand is why Grant + Nico didn’t push it harder when they took the lead.
They both lead the field with fastest SBs and knew what Hocker/the rest of the field were capable of with their kicks.
because they simply couldn't. They ran their SBs in one-off races, and that's a championship with rounds, coupled with the fact that the came off of the 10k, huge difference. Never mind the weather not being ideal, albeit not brutal as it was in the 10k.