By Just six days after he broke the indoor 3,000-meter world record, US middle-distance star Grant Fisher was once again celebrating on Friday, as he smashed the 5,000-meter indoor world record to cap off a dream week.
Fisher, who won two bronze medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, shattered the previous mark in the men’s 5,000m by almost six seconds in Friday’s race at the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston.
He crossed the line in a time of 12:44.09 to break the 21-year-old world record set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in 2004.
That effort came just six days after Fisher broke the 3,000-meter indoor world record at the Millrose Games in New York City, fending off his compatriot and Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker in a thrilling sprint finish to record a time of 7:22.91.
“I didn’t know how my legs would feel after the last week,” he said on Friday, after his second world record. “They honestly felt pretty bad for a few days after. I was a little nervous two days ago with how bad my legs felt. Yesterday they came around, and today they felt normal … so I guess the fatigue had gone.”
He streaked ahead of the rest of the field in the 5,000m at the BU Valentine Invitational, effectively time-trialing his way to the record as he lapped the other competitors in the penultimate lap before crossing the line with arms outstretched and keeling over with the effort.
“With a few laps to go, I was like if I don’t blow up I think I can get it, and then those laps felt like 600 meters,” he said. “I was seeing stars and with a lap to go I knew I had it and I was giving everything I could.”
