Grant is potentially in AR shape right now. Conditions were poor in a championship-style race. And for those saying that the heat was an equalizer look where Woody and Klecker ended up. The fact is that the only people who beat him today are all-time 10000m men. Here is a look at the resumes of the guys he was in position to beat with a lap or so to go.
1 Barega: Top 30 alltime 10k list 26:49, 7th best 5k performance 12:43, 2019 worlds silver 5k, 2020 10k gold
2 Cheptegei: 5k wr holder 12:35, 10k wr holder 26:11, 2019 worlds gold 10k, 2020 silver 10k, 2017 worlds silver 10k
3 Kiplimo: 7th best 10k performance 26:33, 21st best 5k performance 12:48, 2nd best HM performance 57:37, 9th best 3k performance 7:26,
4 Berihu Aregawi is a bit more of an unknown but had just broken on to the scene at the age of 20 making the Ethiopian team with a 10k time of 26:50
I also lap optimized his splits per k and got an optimized time of 27:12.89. Accounting for the heat with Daniels calculator a time of 26:30 was given as an equal performance under ideal conditions. While I figure these pacing and environmental adjustments to be a bit generous, I do not think 26:44 is out of question given that this is his performance on the international scene. My dude is a gamer and I'm excited to see what he is capable of in the 5k where I thought his chances of placing in the top 5 were greater than the 10k.