Grant Fisher breaks Moh Ahmed’s North American 5,000m record
The 25-year-old phenom, who was born in Calgary, broke Moh Ahmed's North American record of 12:47.20 by two-tenths of a second
Photo by:
James Rhodes
On Friday evening at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme Diamond League meet in Brussels, American track star Grant Fisher smashed the 11-year-old American 5,000m record in 12:46.96, setting a new North American area record in the process.
On the 25th anniversary of Daniel Komen’s 5,000m (then) world record run, the pace was set up for a sub-12:40 race. The men were on pace until the 4,000m mark, when the pacers dropped back, and with two laps left, the race came down to Kenya’s Jakob Krop and Fisher.
Fisher put on a surge on the final lap, but could not catch Krop, who won the race in a world-leading time of 12:45.71 (the sixth fastest time in history).
Fisher, the 25-year-old phenom who was born in Calgary but grew up in Michigan, broke Moh Ahmed’s North American area record of 12:47.20 by two-tenths of a second.
GRANT FISHER 12:46.96!!!
That was BALLS.. man..I need a drink ??????
— Bernard Lagat OLY (@Lagat1500) September 2, 2022
The previous American record holder was Bernard Lagat, who ran 12:53.60 on the Diamond League circuit in 2011. This result is Fisher’s third American outdoor record for the 2022 season; he broke the American 3,000m record at the Monaco Diamond League in August and set the North American 10,000m area record at the Sound Running Ten in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., in March.
At the 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Championships, Fisher missed the podium in the 5,000m and 10,000m, but finished in the top 10 in both.
Arop and Brown deliver stellar performances in Brussels
Canada’s Aaron Brown secured a spot in next week’s Diamond League final with a third-place finish in the men’s 200m (20.22 seconds). The times were slower due to a -2.9 m/s headwind on the home straight. American sprinter and world 200m bronze medallist Erriyon Knighton won the race in 20.07 seconds.
In the men’s 800m, Marco Arop had his rematch against world champion Emmanuel Korir of Kenya and silver medallist Djamel Sedjati of Algeria. Arop found himself in a great position with 200m left, but ultimately ran out of gas and could not catch the 1,500m world champion, Jake Wightman, who continues his remarkable season with a personal best time of 1:43.65. Arop was fifth in 1:44.48.
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