. . . Fisher is 1-5 again Cheptegei and 0-4 against Kiplimo in his life. Other than them, he's got decent head to head records against most of the top guys. He's 4-4 against Aregawi, 4-5 against Barega, 4-3 vs Kejelcha and 4-0 against Ebenyo who won WC silver this year. So there are basically two guys he never beats and then it's a coin toss against 3 or 4 others.Odds are low.
Excellent stats from the Elias Sports Bureau of distance running.
Good one.
Probably Grant's best race was his 4th/10k at the Eugene '22 WC.
Rewatch the race below, starting at around 28:00 to catch the last two laps.
Notice that Grant was 5th in a group of 8 at the bell, one place ahead of Kiplimo, lost ground on the backstretch, then sprinted home to catch Barega for 4th and was inching so close to Kiplimo for the bronze.
And, he was not a prisoner of lane 1, moving out to gain position and pass people a couple of times.
Presuming Grant is stronger and faster now, two years later, he simply needs to stay right with the leaders throughout the entire last lap, not allowing any gaps to form, then kick like hell down the homestretch.
Substitute Kejelcha for Worku, the upcoming Paris race may look just like 2022.
Like rojo states above, "the odds are low" for gold. However, given how close everyone is to each other, the odds are low for everyone else as well.
Thus, I would posit that Grant's chances for Gold, Silver, or Bronze are just as good -- or bad -- as everyone else's.
⭐️ Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics ⭐️⭐️ Follow us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WorldAthletics/ ⭐️⭐️ Follow us on Instagra...
I envision 3rd 4th or 5th. All about positioning. He doesn't have that extra gear, explosive speed of the big kickers. I envision him more catching a guy or two in the last 50m because they went for the gold like Prefontaine did in 72. Fisher will be more like Ian Stewart who snuck in for the bronze
Agree with lots being said in this thread. Chances for medal solid, gold slim. Lots of A studs, so chances someone winding it up the last laps are strong, which plays into his hands.
He was jogging the ten, xept for the last 100. Breathing through his nose all the way.
Grant Fisher will not accidentally obtain Olympic gold. Too much can go wrong sitting in the catbird seat until 150m to go waiting for something to open along the rail. Grant Fisher will have to attempt to take control of the race between 1100m to go & 900m to go, take the lead, race on inside half of lane 1 and make others work to pass.
Fisher would have to be the best runner in the race, to push the pace from that far out. If he isn’t, he won’t medal.
I envision 3rd 4th or 5th. All about positioning. He doesn't have that extra gear, explosive speed of the big kickers. I envision him more catching a guy or two in the last 50m because they went for the gold like Prefontaine did in 72. Fisher will be more like Ian Stewart who snuck in for the bronze
Agree with lots being said in this thread. Chances for medal solid, gold slim. Lots of A studs, so chances someone winding it up the last laps are strong, which plays into his hands.
He was jogging the ten, xept for the last 100. Breathing through his nose all the way.
Grant takes a lot of criticism and I get it it's tough at the level of competition he is running at, but let's give Grant credit he is always in the mix. He seldom if ever if 5 or 10 seconds back. He is always there in that last lap. I hope it works out for him and he medals this August. He'll of a nice guy and an incredible runner
I'm a big fan of his, but don't expect him to win. I'd be curious if Grant thinks he will win. Hopefully, he thinks, at least, that he has a good chance to win (even though I don't think his chances are good - hopefully he'll surprise me).
Based off the fact that only 3 times have been run faster than him since 2006 and 2 just happened at Ethiopian trials, sure he could medal, but that doesn't mean it will happen.