Who is Grant Fisher's coach and where does he train? All about the American athlete's mentor as he aims for glory at the Paris Olympics

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Aug 10, 2024 11:38 GMT

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Grant Fisher is aiming to give it his all in the men's 5,000m finals, whose finals will be held tonight at Stade de France, the primary venue for the Paris Olympics 2024 athletics competitions. Having already won a historic bronze medal in the 10,000m, Fisher will now be aiming for a podium finish in the 5,000m.

Fisher is the current American record holder in the men's 3,000m, 5,000m, and 10,000m. He trains in Park City, Utah. The 27-year-old sprinter was at one time part of the Bowerman Track Club. However, in late 2023 Fisher left the club and sought the services of his former high school coach, Mike Scannell.

Scannell is currently the cross-country running coach at Hamilton High School, where Fisher was initially into soccer. It was here that Scannell became his first coach. However, the roots of their relationship lie deeper.

Scannell is almost like a father figure to Grant Fisher. He was not only friends with the runner’s father Dan Fisher but was also his roommate at Arizona State University. In fact, when Grant was a toddler, Scannell was able to help his father get hired at a manufacturing facility in Michigan.

Before joining Hamilton High School as a cross country coach, Scannell was a triathlon coach at the US Olympic Training Center when Dan Fisher called on him. Scannell said [via The Salt Lake Tribune],

"Grant's dad said, 'You have to coach Grant.' So I started coaching Grant."

Scannell also revealed in an interview that he was not very enthusiastic about Fisher’s capabilities at the start of their relationship. According to Scannell [via 12 News],

"At that time, soccer was Grant's priority, and he was nothing special in terms of running. Honestly, I didn't think much of it at all then, but what makes Grant special is his mental focus and his response to physical training. Neither of those were apparent when I first saw him run. However, those were developed over time."

This unique partnership broke off when Fisher moved to Stanford University. However, despite turning pro, and being associated with the Bowerman Track Club, he did not achieve the results he desired.

Moreover, Fisher missed the World Championships in 2023 due to an injury. He decided to move to a higher altitude to train, and in this pursuit, he moved to Park City in Utah, where he reunited with his high school coach Scannell.

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Grant Fisher's performances at Paris Olympics 2024

Grant Fisher [R ] with the other medalists from the Paris 2024 men's 10000m, Berihu Aregawai [L] of Ethiopia, and Joshua Cheptegei [C] of Uganda [Image Source: Getty]

Grant Fisher and Mike Scannell's efforts paid off in the men's 10,000m event at the Paris Olympics 2024. Fisher kept his cool as he clocked 26 minutes, 43.46 seconds to finish third overall, winning a historic bronze medal for the United States of America.

With the lone exception of Billy Mills, who had won the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, no American has ever managed to win the 10000m event at any Summer Olympics. The last runner who came close to achieving this feat was Galen Rupp, who was outclassed by Mo Farah of Great Britain in the race to the gold medal at the London Olympics in 2012.

Rupp had to be content with a silver medal, but after him, no American managed to achieve the podium finish until the Paris Olympics, when Fisher achieved the feat. He will now aim to also end his Olympic campaign on a high with a podium finish at the finals of the men's 5,000m, which will take place tonight at Stade de France.