Grant Fisher Wins 2024 US Olympic Trials 10K as Woody Kincaid & Nico Young Clinch Paris Spots

EUGENE, Ore. — With 1,000 meters remaining in tonight’s 10,000-meter final at the US Olympic Trials, Grant Fisher went to the lead and began to stretch out the pace. It was, essentially, the same move Fisher made one year ago in the US final, when he tried to break the field and wound up breaking himself, fading from first to 4th over the final half-lap.

But so much had changed in between those moves. Fisher, the American record holder at 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 meters, changed coaches, leaving Jerry Schumacher and the Bowerman Track Club to return to his high school coach, Mike Scannell. He changed his home base, relocating from Eugene to Park City, Utah, in order to take advantage of the city’s 6,900 feet of elevation year-round. Most importantly, the pain in Fisher’s left leg was gone.

That pain, later revealed to be a stress fracture, had not only sapped the power from Fisher’s stride in the 2023 final. It had eroded his self-belief. Last year, he moved with 1200 to go because he had no other option. This time was different.

Fisher wins the US 10k at last (Kevin Morris photo)

“Last year, because my leg was hurting, I knew I couldn’t kick hard on it,” Fisher said. “…So I knew I had to press from a ways out, but I was almost doing it out of fear last year, whereas this year I was doing it out of confidence. I knew if I pressed with 1200 to go, no one could run a 1200 with me [tonight].”

Fisher backed up that self-belief by running his final 1600 meters in 4:06.52 (65.60-62.32-60.49-58.12) to run away from reigning champion Woody Kincaid en route to victory in 27:49.47 to clinch his second straight Olympic berth. Kincaid, who was hampered by a back injury this spring, ran his typically stellar last lap (55.72, fastest in the field by more than a second), but it was not enough to close the gap Fisher had opened. He, too, will be going to his second straight Olympics after finishing second in 27:50.74.

The fiercest battle on the last lap was the one for third place between collegiate star Nico Young of Northern Arizona and Drew Hunter, the former high school golden boy running just the second 10,000 of his life. Young (3rd in 27:52.40) finally pulled away in the final 50 meters, but the stakes were not fitting of an Olympic Trials — because Young has the Olympic standard of 27:00 and Hunter (4th in 27:53.35) does not, any informed observer knew that no matter who won the duel, Young would be the one going to Paris. Young, who earlier this year became the first collegian under 13:00 and 27:00, lived up to his name — at 21, he is the youngest US Olympian in the men’s 10,000 meters since Dathan Ritzenhein in 2004.

Pace starts fast but slows

The race had begun quickly as US Olympic Marathon Trials champion Conner Mantz went to the front and, against his coach Ed Eyestone‘s advice, started stringing together 64- and 65-second laps, passing 1600 meters in 4:18.13 (26:53 pace) with the field stringing out behind him. But the 80-degree temperature and Mantz’s lack of track-specific training soon took its toll, and the pace would slip with the field getting progressively slower over the next four 1600m segments: 4:26-4:33-4:35-4:39. With a mile to run, 10 men were still in the lead pack, including 39-year-old Sam Chelanga and two-time Olympic 5,000 medalist Paul Chelimo.

ZAP Endurance’s Andrew Colley launched the first attack of the final mile, dropping the pace from a 69-second lap to a 65, but it was Fisher who did the true damage, with Chelimo — the only man outside Fisher, Kincaid, and Young with enough world ranking points to qualify for the Olympics — one of the first to break. He would finish 10th in 28:18.31, packing it in with a 4:35 final 1600, spent and already regrouping for the 5,000 next week.

The three 2024 Olympians: Fisher, Kincaid, and Young (Kevin Morris photo)

Fisher was well into his celebration by the time Chelimo crossed the line. For the 27-year-old Fisher, the victory was proof that his big move, changing coaches in his athletic prime heading into an Olympic year, was the right one.

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“We targeted this race not as a qualifier, but I wanted to win,” Fisher said. “And I wanted do it dominantly. And I wanted to beat everybody. And I wanted to show myself that I’m still the best guy in the country and I’m ready to compete internationally. So definitely validation.”

The victory was particularly sweet for Fisher given his semi-tortured history in this event at USAs — 2nd, 2nd, and 4th in the last three years. A national title — an Olympic Trials victory, no less — is a significant life achievement, no matter how accomplished the athlete.

But one cannot help but cast an eye toward Paris. Fisher did not switch coaches and relocate his life to Park City to stop at one national title. This is a 7:25/12:46/26:33 performer, one of the most gifted distance runners this country has ever produced, a man who has finished 5th at an Olympics and 4th at a World Championships. He is one of the greats, and just like all of the greats, his season will be measured at the Olympic Games. Now, Fisher has his place. Paris beckons.

Top Results (more here)

1. Grant Fisher (NIKE OLY STD) – 27:49.47
2. Woody Kincaid (NIKE OLY STD) – 27:50.74
3. Nico Young (Northern Arizona OLY STD) – 27:52.40
4. Drew Hunter (adidas) – 27:53.35
5. Casey Clinger (Brigham Young) – 27:59.71
6. Conner Mantz (NIKE) – 28:00.90
7. Sam Chelanga (Saucony) – 28:04.36
8. Andrew Colley (ZAP Endurance) – 28:05.05
9. Ryan Ford (ZAP Endurance) – 28:08.72
10. Paul Chelimo (American Distance Project) – 28:18.31

Quick Take: Is Grant Fisher better than he was a year ago?

It’s easy to look at the results and conclude that the Fisher of 2024 that won the US title must be better than the Fisher of 2023 that finished 4th. But is that really the case? Fisher clearly has one advantage over his 2023 self, in that he is healthy. Yet despite a stress reaction, Fisher’s final 1600 meters was actually faster last year: 4:04.54 compared to 4:06.52 tonight. Check out his lap-by-lap splits:

There are a few caveats, notably that Fisher’s time tonight was 36 seconds faster than in 2023, which means naturally it is going to be harder to close fast at the end of the race. And his last lap was marginally faster than in 2023, 58.12 to 58.39.

But the conditions were virtually the same for both races, and two of the four men who beat Fisher last year — Joe Klecker and Sean McGorty — were not in this year’s race. And while his chief rival Kincaid did run tonight, he was not as strong in 2024. Last year, Kincaid was in the form of his life entering USAs whereas this year he was coming back from a back injury he suffered in late April. Kincaid blasted the final 400 of last year’s race in 54.76 following a 60.59 and 60.40 for his third- and second-to-last laps. Tonight, Kincaid went 63.59-62.70-55.72.

Given that the race overall was faster than last year — which Fisher admitted played to his strengths — it’s hard to say exactly whether Fisher’s performance last year was better than tonight’s. But the fact that it is even a debate tells you something.

I spoke to Scannell in the mixed zone after the race, and while he was proud of Fisher manifesting the plan they put together when they began working together last fall, he admitted he was hoping to see a faster last lap.

“The penultimate lap, I was super happy with because it strung the field out,” Scannell said. “I was hoping that I’d get to see him put the hammer down and really it was more of a strength move than it was a fast move. So we really didn’t see that part of the race for him, but we’ll see that eventually. We’ll see it in the 5,000, certainly.”

Scannell knows that Fisher still has things to work on in the six weeks before Paris. He was not happy with Fisher’s 5th-place finish in the LA Grand Prix 5,000 on May 18 that served as a de facto Olympic 10k preview, where Fisher was 5th in 12:53.30, nearly two seconds behind winner (and reigning Olympic 10,000 champ) Selemon Barega.

“We planned for certain things to happen and they didn’t happen there,” Scannell said. “And so from that, then you look at the deficits and you say we need to train this differently and we need to train this strategically differently. Position-wise, he wasn’t good at the end of that race.”

In addition to Barega, the Olympic 10,000 final will feature Ugandan stars Joshua Cheptegei and Jacob Kiplimo (both of whom beat Fisher in LA) and Ethiopians Yomif Kejelcha and Berihu Aregawi, both of whom ran 26:31 at the Ethiopian trials this month. As usual at the Olympics, it will be a formidable field, but Fisher is ready for the challenge.

“The Ethiopian trials, I remember maybe two years ago, a bunch of guys ran like, 26:50, and they all closed in like 52 and 53,” Fisher said. “And you would look at that and think, oh those guys are going 1 through 3 at the World Championship. But you just never know. Some people do really well at different parts of the year. Obviously that was super impressive…It’s exciting in a way, it’s nerve-wracking in a way. I know those guys are gonna bring it, so I need to as well.”

Quick Take: Woody Kincaid said making his second Olympic team was “satisfying in a different way” compared to 2021

Kincaid ran the fastest 10,000 of his life on March 16, clocking 26:57 at The TEN. But shortly after that, he developed a mysterious injury in his hip area that he never quite figured out. He missed 10 days of running in April — not ideal in an Olympic year — but said overcoming the setback to become a two-time Olympian was rewarding.

“Every year is a new challenge and this one was, okay, I got hurt in April,” Kincaid said. “And now it’s like, can I make a team coming off cross-training and pulling it together? It’s satisfying in a different way.”

Quick Take: Nico Young caps incredible year with first Olympic berth

Young has been saddled with sky-high expectations ever since his senior year of high school in 2019-20 when he won NXN in dominant fashion and set a high school 3,000m record of 7:56. While the progression has not been completely linear, there have been very few backward steps since he enrolled at NAU in 2020 and now he is heading to the Olympics in his first race as a pro at just 21 years old.

In many ways, Young is this generation’s Dathan Ritzenhein. Both were high school phenoms with a tortured running form that looked as if they were hurting from the gun (though Ritz, who won Foot Lockers twice and medalled at World XC, was a slightly bigger deal), both had NCAA success right away (Young was 4th at NCAA XC, the best finish by an American true freshman since Ritz in 2001), and now Young is the youngest US 10,000 Olympian since…you guessed it, Ritz in 2004. Young never won NCAA XC as Ritz did, but Ritz never won an NCAA track title (let alone two) like Young did.

Quick Take: Drew Hunter was incredible tonight

Hunter had only run one 10,000 in his life before tonight but it went very well as he won the B heat at The TEN in March in 27:38. He went into tonight’s race without the standard, knowing he had little to make the Olympics, but he felt like he could mix it up with the best in the US.

“For me this was more about conquering my own self doubt that I could compete with those guys,” Hunter said. “And that’s what I did. I kept saying, Just keep fighting. Don’t give an inch. If you die, that’s okay, just fight all the way to the end. Show people that you belong in that conversation.”

Hunter may have come up just shy of the top three but he showed all of America that he can compete with the best this country has to offer. Hunter said he knows his best events are the 5,000 and 10,000 but he has been forced to race shorter distances in recent years because he could not train at the volume he wanted to due to a series of health issues, most recently back spasms and breathing issues in the fall. At 26, he believes he is just getting started in the 10,000.

“I feel like I’m just getting my feet wet. Obviously everyone says that. But I know how everyone in that field trains and I know how I’ve trained the last few years and I know I have a ton more to give than what that performance was. So I’m excited for the future.

Quick Take: World Athletics, please add quota reallocation places on the track

We’ve long said at LetsRun.com that any country with three qualified athletes in an event should be able to send any three athletes it wants to Worlds or the Olympics as long as it holds a trials race. Tonight was the perfect example why. In the home straight, Young and Hunter were battling tooth and nail for 3rd place. That is exactly the sort of drama that makes the Olympic Trials the best meet on US soil. The problem is, Young had the standard and Hunter didn’t, so there was no sense of jeopardy. World Athletics has already done it for the marathon; it’s time to add quota reallocation places for track events as well.

Conner Mantz said he considered dropping out multiple times but hung on for 6th

Mantz went in hoping to run sub-27:10 but quickly realized that was not going to happen.

Sam Chelanga was leading the Trials at age 39 with under two miles to go and is excited to return to the marathon

Andrew Colley went for it in the Marathon Trials in February and went for it again tonight

Paul Chelimo found it hard to return to track training after training for the Olympic Marathon Trials this winter

The two-time Olympic medalist Chelimo is running the 5,000 next week but said he will be done with the track after 2024 and is moving up to the roads.