Grant Fisher earns first USATF national title, wins 5,000m
Grant Fisher makes a move with one mile to go in the men’s 5,000m at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. Photo by Skyler Humphrey-Davis
By Joe Zochert
On the final day of the 2022 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, Grant Fisher knocked down the meet record en route to capturing his first USA title with a mark of 13:03.86. Fisher was just out of the kicking range of his teammate and training partner, Woody Kincaid, who finished second with a season’s best 13:06.70.
This title felt like an eventuality for the Bowerman Track Club runner as he placed second in both the 5,000m and 10,000m at Olympic Trials last year and also grabbed second at the 10,000 meter championship last month.
“I was confident that I could get out here and try to win,” said Fisher after the race. “It's been something I've been going for so I’m happy to get it done.”
“That 10k stung, I was not happy at all with it and obviously grateful to make the team you can't take those for granted. But yeah, I wanted to win a U.S. title for a while and it feels good to get it.”
After the race, the 2017 NCAA Champion mentioned that getting outkicked by On Athletics Club’s Joe Klecker at last month’s 10,000m final helped him strategize for this win.
“The 10k kind of turned into a 400 and I thought I thought I had the legs,” said Fisher about last month’s final at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon. “And I thought that waiting till the end was my best way to win at that point and I was wrong.”
With the pace being pushed from the start and the temperature settling in the mid-80’s, Fisher knew that this environment favored his style as he kicked it into high gear to run a 2:28.31 over the last kilometer.
“I was actually kind of excited for it to be hot,” said Fisher. “I wanted to make a really strong move and you know, in the heat when people really opened things up, you start thinking like, ‘Hey, man, maybe I shouldn't be extending myself so hard.’”
With Fisher qualifying for the world championship team in both the 5k and 10k, he will be joined by his teammates, Kincaid and Sean McGorty in the 5,000m and 10,000m, respectively.
Even with these two representing the United States with him, Fisher quickly pointed out the strong presence of the Bowerman Track Club at Worlds.
“It's gonna be awesome,” said Fisher. “We got a lot of people on the team, both in the U.S. and internationally.”
Fisher noted that seeing his Bowerman teammates enjoy success gave him confidence for the race.
“It's a confidence thing. It's a team camaraderie thing,” he said about the culture at Bowerman. “That's one of the reasons I joined this team. We push each other and you know when we're on the track, we're racing each other.”
One of the performances that Fisher highlighted was Evan Jager’s second place finish in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase.
“I watched his race yesterday and that one meant a lot to the team,” he said about Jager, who made his sixth World Championships after battling back from injuries over the last four years. “Anyone that knows him, knows what he's gone through.”
His teammate, Kincaid agrees with Fisher's view on the tight-knit community amongst the Nike sponsored track club.
“It's like going to camp with your buddies,” said Kincaid about the atmosphere of the team. “You're hanging out, you're in the house or making dinners together. You're playing pool together. You're just hanging out with your team.”
Fisher and seven of his Bowerman teammates will be representing the U.S. at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 in July.