History maker: USA’s Grant Fisher takes bronze in men’s 10,000m at Paris Olympics

Grant Fisher was, along with Lewis Tewanima (1912), Billy Mills (1964) and Galen Rupp (2012), the only American men to win a medal in the 10,000 meters at the Olympic Games. He won bronze in a thrilling final at the Stade de France on Friday night.

Fisher was narrowly defeated by Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi, who took silver in a photo finish.

Americans Nico Young (26:58.11) and William Kincaid (27:29.40) also delivered strong performances, finishing 12th and 16th respectively. But it was Fisher who made American history. On a cool evening in Paris, he ran his best time of the season, with a time of 26 minutes and 43.46 seconds. Aregawi ran a time of 26:43.44.

“I’ve been close to medals before,” Fisher said. “But I haven’t gotten one until today.”

Fisher’s bronze medal was the first American medal in track and field at the Paris Olympics.

“There’s so much that has to go right to get on the podium,” said Fisher, who finished fifth in the 10,000m in Tokyo. “I’m glad they did.”

After stumbling with about nine laps to go, Fisher came back to join the lead group in the final laps. Whether the American could hold on to a medal was questionable, but who would take home the gold was never in question.

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei took the lead with just over a lap to go in a masterful 10,000m final, winning in an Olympic record time of 26:43.14 seconds in front of a delirious crowd on the opening night of track cycling at the Paris Olympics.

The world record holder raced in the middle of a tense group on the calm track for most of the 25 laps before breaking away around the bend and holding the lead for the final 500 metres against a crowd of Ethiopians who kept up a blistering pace all night.

This was Cheptegei’s season opener on the track this season. His only race at this distance was a cross-country road race with a time of 26:53.

He looked in top form and turned the race, led by Aregawi and his Ethiopian teammates, who had positioned the peloton early on the course and took turns at the front, into a celebration for Uganda, which captured its first gold medal in the 112-year history of the race at the Olympic Games.

The victory earned Cheptegei $50,000, a new prize for Olympic track cycling this year, and the chance to ring the bell at the end of the stadium, which is reserved only for newly crowned Olympic champions.

Cheptegei adds this to the silver medal he won in Tokyo and the world titles he took in 2019, 2022 and 2023.

“Now my collection is complete,” he said. “I was world champion. Now I win the Olympic title. I’m so excited.”