Grant Fisher is past his prime

Grant Fisher is PAST his prime, not passed his prime. Sheesh~~~~~~

He has a great olympics snagging two medals last year. He's probably not going to do better than that. I would like him to give the marathon a real shot before he truly starts to decline. Landing on WMM podiums I would think is more meaningful than getting 6th-10th in the next world championships on the track. You can run 2+ WMMs a year, world championships and olympics are too hit and miss and not many opportunities.

Does anyone know how the World Athletics Ultimate Championships is supposed to work next year? Is it basically another version of a diamond league final, taking only the top ranked athletes in each event and not a qualification process like world championships/olympics?

At 28.5 years old...yes, slightly beyond his prime. Not earth shattering stuff.

He's had a phenomenal career and, I expect, will be a contender in races again next summer.

26:33, 12:44, 7:22, 3:48. Quite a resume.

When you look at the ages most people set their prs in for the 5k and 10k, he's definitely currently on the older side. However, besides this past week's world championship meet, he has seemed to be getting better. When he ran 26:33 and 12:46, I thought that might be the peak of his career, but he then got double bronze at the Olympics last year and then ran 7:22 WR and 12:44 WR (with the 12:44 looking like he had more in the tank with someone to pace off of/draft off of for longer and less time in lane 2 lapping people) this past winter. Not sure if the grand slam track messed him up or if he just miss timed his peak anyways. I don't think one bad meet should send off the alarm bells yet. He still seems to have a great chance at setting PRs next year (which would put him in the ball park of world records). However I do agree that with Hocker and Jakob in the 5k, his chances at another medal in that event are pretty minimal.

Good post. My sentiments exactly. Fisher was a double bronze medalist just last summer and set a 5000 WR this year! He’s not past his peak yet, even if he didn’t medal or perform up to expectations in the heat and humidity of Japan. $hit happens, like Hocker’s DQ, a blessing in disguise actually as it left him with fresh legs for the 5000.

Now, is it entirely possible that Fisher is right at his peak here from, say, age 27-29, which he can probably carry for another couple years? Absolutely. He likely won’t medal in 2028, though he might if he focuses on one event. But, again, two bronze medals and a world record in the past 14 months? Hardly time to write him off. Even Jingy didn’t factor. $hit happens.

Idk if anyone else mentioned this but he peaked in indoors. Many people on here were saying fisher was superior to hocker after the 3K this year indoors where Fisher best Hocker. Oh how the tables have turned. Fisher went after records indoor in a championship year.. that is something you do in the non championship year and look what happened in the championship. It wasn't surprising. Hocker and coach peaked to win when it mattered Fisher chased times and got some money along the way. He is not passed his prime he is just months passed his peak for the year. Would love to see him demolish the American record for the marathon but he's too good at the 10k currently to go try to do that so his marathon PR will never be in the 2:03 range which would align with the 10k pr and his long runs

Agree. This 10k fell right into his hands.

Grant Fisher is certainly not past his prime. If he stays in the 5k/10k for 10 more years and continues to race for podiums, make finals, and place in the top 3 for American men at US championships, then he is very much so still in his prime.

bite on troll

when you set a world record 5 months prior, you are probably good for a while

When he decides to retire he might be able to go into consulting and train other runners on likability. But I think he’s good for now.

Better to be a has been than a never was....

no, but heroic indoors, i think isnt the right setup for heroic outdoors.

better have some fun indoors in races, rather than max out.

same said to jacob,

they will be looking seriously at the over all schedule and intensity.

Mo Farah was just getting started on his long medal run at the same age.

that said, for a lark you can do a one off stab at a record indoors if you are too frisky, in shorter distances, and call it a day.

In my opinion, GST probably hindered his peak. He was too fit for championship racing too early! I am confident he will be back. He set the indoor WR in February? He’s essentially had to hold onto that fitness for 8 months which nobody can do.

Look at Hocker. He was getting buried in GST and now has the 5k gold medal! As usual, he is a master of the peak.

Im astounded how wrong Grant got this world champs.

After a tough early season (very fast indoors plus GST) with then an injury scare in Philly followed by extremely demanding US champs… why did he goto Lausanne?

Why did he base in St Moritz rather than a hot and humid place?

Look at who medaled.. Jimmy, Yomif and Almgren much more selective with races. It’s well documented how extensive since April that Almgren prepared for the heat and his kick. Jimmy too was well prepared for the heat and focussed races around kick and acceleration.
Even Cole Hocker was much more focussed.

Grant (and coach Mike). For such smart guys you seem to look past the obvious details.

You clearly had the huge engine.
Tokyo is hot as fireballs. Be ready for that.
Champs are all about the kick. Be ready for it.

What?

You mean that Grant Fisher should now start doing pushups?

I agree that running in Lausanne was misguided. Grant said he was tired after USAs, so then why race in Lausanne just a couple weeks later?

I don't know what, if anything, Grant did to prepare for the heat & humidity, but he certainly prepared for the kick. Before the world championships, many people were criticizing him for leaving so many of his races this year down to the final kick, including his race against Gressier in Zurich.

Also, Grant's overall racing calendar this year wasn't so vastly different than Gressier's in terms of timing and volume. They raced the same 3 weekends indoors, and they both had two competitions in between indoors and June: Gressier ran a road 5k and the Euro half-marathon championship, while Grant goofed around with submaximal efforts at GST (remember the uproar about his lack of effort in Kingston). Since the middle of June, Gressier had 6 pre-Tokyo races, and Grant had 5.