Say it ain't so. Grant Fisher won't do World XC. Nor will Hocker.

When was the last time before Fisher that an American won an Olympic medal in the 5k and 10k? When was the last time before Fisher that an American broke two distance event world records in less than a week? Just because an outcome is unlikely and hasn't happened in a long time (or ever), that doesn't mean it's not worth aiming for, especially for someone like Fisher who has made a career out of accomplishing feats that have been unprecedented for American distance runners.

Plus, we're not just talking about Fisher's individual chances of winning. Most of us have been primarily excited about the prospects of Team USA winning the team race and doing it on home soil.

Is there any way that Grant is actually being humble in believing he would have a difficult time getting on the podium at World XC? I know that isn’t the reason he has given, but to me I have a little bit more respect for someone who is willing to pass on something they don’t think they can succeed at. I can’t blame him if he doesn’t want to go because he doesn’t want to get destroyed by Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya.

If it is Barcelona, that is over a month after world xc. How would running that race interrupt his preparations for a half marathon over 4 weeks later? If anything I would think that would be a great part of preparation, but that's just me. World indoors is at the end of March - how does a XC race the second week of Jan impact that in any way?

To be honest I really don't care if he does it or not (for many reasons), I just don't get why you wouldn't unless you had a target race within 2 weeks of it. It never crossed my mind for one second that he is a contender to win the race, but he could help the US team do well which is good for the event, given it's in the US and that's my "disappointment" ends. And to that point, it's not like it's far out of his way. It's a what, 5 hour flight including connections? 2 hour time change? He could fly in a day before the race if he wanted and leave the next morning.

Great points.

You are difficult to read.

Fisher and Hocker make their own decisions based on what is best for them. You don’t know a thing about their current situation, what this year took out of them and the toll on their body.

who cares? World XC is on the same level as World Indoors. It’s all an afterthought.

Luckily, I never like Fisher so this one did not hurt me at all.

Lynn Jennings won three straight World Cross Country races 1990-92. Think Craig Virgin was last man to win (maybe the only?).

Look at the calendar then think about rest, training, racing - all things the athletes have to consider in navigating their careers in a brutally hard sport.

Parker Wolfe and Ethan Strand ran NCAA XC last year, and wasn't it just a week or two later that they ran 7:30 for the 3K indoors? The examples of XC helping indoor and outdoor track success are endless. Too much overthinking by Fisher and Hocker.

And for those, like Grant, who are talking about a lack of incentives, I would argue that not everything is about the money, and that's all Grant is talking about. How about doing something that isn't just about yourself? How about joining a TEAM and working for a common goal to do something special that this country (his country) has not been able to do in over four decades: win a team medal. Nah, I guess not. It's all just business. Honestly, Hocker should get his ass out there and race, as well. Pretty weak on both their parts.

This is what is wrong with out sport of distance running in a nutshell.

People love to see competition. The average sports fan loves competition. No one outside of the diehards care what time someone ran on an indoor 200m track or the 5th heat at Stanford at 10PM. This is a chance to see teams / countries go against each other for something other than set-up time trials that most people don't relate to anyway.

Go watch any xc meet, MS, HS, college and you will see people watching and cheering. Everyone in the race is competing for something, not for the clock. It's a great spectator sport, people get involved, and here we are in 2026 hosting the World XC Championships on US soil and we can't even get a 1,500m, 5,000m and 10,000m medalist from the Olympics and WC to compete. Our sport has no to blame but ourselves.

Look up World XC back in the day, it was a "who's who" from the 1500m to the marathon. John Walker to Bill Rodgers, etc.

Heck, the course in Tallahassee isn't even hard.

PS. Cole Hocker actually won the US Club XC Champs in San Fran a couple years back!

But Florida, especially the “Panhandle” is a cultural mecca that has been poised to bloom once the world comes to Tallahassee.

This cracks me up. "Hocker's not a 5K guy"? An Olympic Gold says otherwise.

Fisher couldn't win a World XC gold medal? His Olympic bronzes in TWO race and near misses on medals at Worlds the year prior say otherwise.

I hate that Fisher isn't running this. World XC has only been held in the states twice ever and this would be a huge boost to the distance running community. I vividly recall Porter leading out the '84 World XC in the Meadowlands the spring of my senior year in high school. Fisher, Young, Blanks and others could help inspire the next generation of stars and win themselves some serious scalps here... IF they tried. I understand the business of this sport, but I'm not sure how they don't get that wins on your home soil make you unforgettable to the sport. That's worth a lifetime of endorsements.

Everyone used to run World XC. From 1500m runners to marathoners. It made this sport great and memorable. Go watch the 1983 Worlds with Salazar, DeCastella, Prieto, Lopes, Porter. Hell, Ovett used to do XC because he was a competitor and a good runnning at 5K.

Stop obsessing about time at indoors - no one cares. A great race is a great sell to promoters. And a potential American win on home soil? hell yeah/

Fisher wants to race Mantz's record in Houston? Great, I'd love to see what he could do. In 2027.

You’re absolutely right, but it’s not the fan’s fault, it’s USATF for not providing lucrative enough incentives for Cole and Grant to take the race seriously. If they offered them enough money to run and then a huge cash prize to win, then you would see both their names on the start list. You are right, Cole Hocker is Olympic and WC champion. The idea that he is not even going to try to race XC is ludicrous until you realize he clearly hasn’t been offered enough money. If he was then he would have everything to gain and nothing to lose for at least trying. But the imbecilic bureaucrats at USATF are stuck in their old ways and clearly don’t see US or World XC as important enough to offer a real prize for the athletes. Supply and demand usually works. We have every reason to believe it would work here with this race, but the governing body has failed the fans for the umpteenth time. It’s just like their initial plan to stage the Olympic marathon trials in Florida in 75 degree weather. The athletes had to literally write a petition, and USATF still almost didn’t push the start time back!

Grant raced Millrose in a fantastic race and time. What else do you want from him?? He doesn’t need to race World XC. He’s never really dabbled in XC professionally. Reminder that Grant Fisher raced Lausanne and the DL final last year when he could have just hid like Hocker. He shows up and races. Frankly, the criticism is crazy.

My money, or i should say NYRR money is that he is doing NYC Half.

i believe that cross country is the ultimate test in running, particularly is there are terraine challenges, not super muddy with bad footing, but turf and some hills undulation, but no super steep descents.

that said

the powers that be, should select a team and give the boys incentive, and hold the championships well after the season with time to recouperate, where cross country becomes a mainstay on everyone's calendar.

some new mega millionaire with love of the spot can back this. particularly back the usa team, with say $50k each appearance fee, and bonus for finishes.

i would not run a trials race like 6 weeks after the season's end.

from there, other countries, such as the UK, with Coe's backing can add logs to the fire, and with the olympics winter, then you have the sport reinviorated big time, it's not going to take that much money, like the budget for one foot ball game.

once the the thing is going, there is sponsorship money to lessen the losses, to minimal.

If that is the case then someone needs to be explain to me how running a 12000m XC race 9 weeks earlier in the country where you live would possibly compromise that performance.

It's just weak sauce

Makes sense. Outside these forums very few people actually care about cross country. It's even less relevant than the mickey mouse indoor season.