The fact he mentioned Paris Olympic Stadium is his favorite venue suggests his targeted record-attempt race will be there
Paris Diamond League event is at Charety Stadium, not the Olympic stadium.
Yes.
Thx for correction.
And now we know Grant will, indeed, be racing the 5000 in Charlety Stadium on June 28th, as mention of him is buried in today's (5/5) announcement that home-nation favorite Jimmy Gressier is entered with the intent of breaking his 13:51.59 NR from last year:
Per LRC's interview w/Nico Young, we know he is entered as well.
Last year's top-7 in this race:
Yomif Kejelcha (ETH) - 12:47.84 Birhanu Balew (BRN) - 12:48.67 Graham Blanks (USA) - 12:49.51 Jimmy Gressier (FRA) - 12:51.59 Samuel Tefera (ETH) - 12:53.44 Soufiane El Bakkali - 12:55.49 Nico Young - 12:55.71
Still too early for paces to be announced.
Speculation about a WR attempt -- or even a 12:40 -- would likely be dependent upon the weather, as Paris has been known to be quite warm around this time.
Somewhat lost in Nico's 12:45 AR a week earlier in Oslo was Graham beating Nico in this race.
One question remains re: Grants racing schedule : when & where does he open?
Will it be a 1500 in Rabat on 5/31 or Stockholm on 6/7?
Or, does he dive right into the deep end with the equally hot 5000 in Oslo on 6/10 facing returning champ Nico?
One question remains re: Grants racing schedule : when & where does he open?
Will it be a 1500 in Rabat on 5/31 or Stockholm on 6/7?
Or, does he dive right into the deep end with the equally hot 5000 in Oslo on 6/10 facing returning champ Nico?
Opener remains an open Q as of now (5/15).
However, we now know Grant will be facing off against Almgren & Gressier in the Paris 5000 on 6/28.
Then, 6 days later, Grant vs Andreas in the Pre 2-Mile.
The more days go by that Grant is not announced for the Oslo 5000, the more likely it becomes he will bypass that meet to put all his efforts into the Paris race.
Grant is also not racing the Sound Running Track Fest on 5/23 nor the USATF LA Grand Prix on 6/13-14, suggesting he will continue training in Park City thru the end of May, fly over to St. Moritz sometime in June, then find a 1500/mile tune-up race a week or so out from Paris.
At least, that's the way I'm reading the tea leaves.
This thread is titled Grant's "Summer of PRs" Project -- but what a front-loaded track racing schedule Almgren created for himself this year:
However, we now know Grant will be facing off against Almgren & Gressier in the Paris 5000 on 6/28. . .
And Nico Young.
Paris is shaping up to be the premier 5000 of the year outside of the Ultimate Championships.
Would presume the top 2 or 3 Kenyans and Ethiopians from the Shanghai 3000 & Xiamen 5000 DL races will be invited to Paris.
With Yomif Kejelcha now a full-time roadie and Selemon Barega apparently using 2026 as his transition year to the marathon -- having just run 2:05:00 in Tokyo on 3/1 -- would appear Berihu Aregawi is the only one from that trio still racing on the track. He's not done a half or full marathon yet, is coming off a 2nd place finish at World XC back in January, has not raced since, nor is entered in either of the China DL meets. His track opener this season remains unknown at this point -- if it happens at all.
19-year-old Biniam Mehary, 5th in the Tokyo WC 5000 last year, now appears to have ascended to the top of the Ethiopian track distance crew so would be a likely Paris invitee as well. He's opening in the Xiamen 5000 on 5/23 so a good test coming against Almgren & the rest of the guys doubling back from the Shanghai 3000.
The more days go by that Grant is not announced for the Oslo 5000, the more likely it becomes he will bypass that meet to put all his efforts into the Paris race.
Finally!!
Some clarity. Actually, a lot of clarity.
No more days will go by . . . as Oslo just announced late today (5/18) the field for the men's 5000 . . . and there's Grant.
What a lineup!
Everybody who's anybody in track distance running today -- save Cole & Jakob -- is entered.
Then they'll do it all over again in Paris (6/28).
Still unknown if this will be Grant's opener; continue to wait on the 1500 start lists for Rabat (5/31) & Stockholm (6/7).
Is there a common denominator among the world’s best 5,000-meter runners? Yes. Everyone wants to come to Bislett to run fast. And on Wednesday, June 10, they
Rabat 1500 field just announced today (5/24). No Grant.
Stockholm 1500 field still to be announced.
Thus, this will be Grant's 1st outdoor season since the 2020 COVID-19 year where he will not have run a race in April & May. And he did not run a spring race in 2020 simply because all the meets were cancelled back then.
Grant's been posting on IG & Strava this spring as has his training partner Sam Gilman, so no missed practices or meets due to injuries or illnesses.
In the interviews included earlier in this thread, Grant has stated his belief he just cooked himself last year by running those GST meets rather than taking his normal 2-3 month spring break from racing. As such, he was -- in his words -- "tired" by the time Tokyo WCs rolled around and had nothing left in his legs at the end.
Apparently as a reaction/correction, 10 weeks have now elapsed since the NYC Half. With over 2 more weeks to go before the Oslo 5000.
Since Grant has mentioned many times throughout his pro career he likes to immerse himself in 2-3 month training blocks prior to opening his indoor and outdoor seasons, this year he is taking his own advice. To the extreme, apparently, especially given he has only raced 2c in 2026. Was a bit surprising not to see Grant race the Sound Running Track Fest 1500 last night.
Still keeping an eye on the Stockholm meet where a few of the Oslo 5000 guys will be getting in another tune-up 1500 race 3 days prior. However, will not be surprised if Grant dives right into the Oslo race as his outdoor debut.
Rabat 1500 field just announced today (5/24). No Grant.
Stockholm 1500 field still to be announced.
. . .
Still keeping an eye on the Stockholm meet where a few of the Oslo 5000 guys will be getting in another tune-up 1500 race 3 days prior. However, will not be surprised if Grant dives right into the Oslo race as his outdoor debut.
Stockholm fields announced today (5/27).
No Grant.
Thus, looks like he's diving right into the Oslo 5000 as his outdoor debut.
Grant broke Bekele's 2000 record in his first/only indoor race back in January where he came out swinging with a 56.42 opening lap followed by 57s to 59s with a 56.65 close.
Must be pretty confident he can handle 61s for more than double the distance with a sub-60 close.
Gebrhiwet wasn't 32 when he ran that, he had turned 30 a couple of weeks earlier. Blanks and Young still have lots of time, but Fisher's window for breaking track PRs is coming to a close.
First, thank you for the Gebrhiwet age correction. Should have acknowledge it when you posted last month.
However, the "window" comment above is stated in a way which makes it appear you know when Grant's talents for running fast on the track will come to an end.
In all likelihood, Grant will stick to the track thru the LA '28 Olympics -- when he will be 31 -- then move to the roads the following year. In the meantime, if he continues to set prs -- or even come close to his current bests of 3:48/7:22/13:44/26:33, then we'll likely never know what Grant's limits were on the track.
As you dutifully mentioned above, Gebrhiwet was a year older than Grant is now when he almost broke Cheptegei's WR.
Now, we have 31-year-old Vince Ciattei run a 30-sec 5000 pr last month as prep for his newly minted 3:30.90/1500 today (5/31) in Rabat.
As well, other 30-and-over guys like Cheruiyot, Habz and Coscoran are still going strong.
Right around age 30 should be the peak years for a long distance track runner, especially someone like Grant, who -- by current standards -- was lightly trained throughout high school and college.
Thus, insinuation that Grant's best years on the track are behind him -- especially given he just broke Bekele's 2000i record a few months ago -- is nonsense.
Ok.
Now 10 days out from Oslo.
A press release promoting a list of 18 competitors for the men's 5000 was released on May 18th.
Expecting the official start list to come out this week, likely by Wed (6/3).
Grant was posting regularly on IG & Strava thru mid-May but nothing since. Training partner Sam Gilman has posted virtually every day on Strava including pics of him w/Grant.
Since Sam looked great winning the Bryan Clay 1500 mid-April in a 3:34 pr but hasn't raced since, now wondering if he will be a rabbit in the Oslo 5000. Or, somehow manage to actually become an entrant.
