Grant Fisher finished second Thursday in the Diamond League finals 3000m race in Zürich, Switzerland. Fisher finished the race in 7:36.81, only three tenths of a second behind winner Jimmy Gressier of France.
The 3000m isn’t Fisher’s specialty, yet he’s trying to challenge himself a bit with distances shorter than the 5000m ahead of September’s World Championships. The Championships will be held Sept. 13-21 in Tokyo at the National Stadium, host of the track and field events for the 2020 Olympics, held in 2021 due to COVID-19.
Fisher will race both the 5k and 10k events in Tokyo, held on the 19th and 21st, and 14th, respectively. He’ll be chasing his first World Championships wins and podiums, racing against stiff competition like Berihu Aregawi, Joshua Cheptegi and Jacob Kiplimo.
Fisher was using Aug. 20’s Lausanne Diamond League race and the finals to gear up for Tokyo. It’s the pinnacle of the sport outside of the Olympics, held every other year in non-Games years.
“When I look back on the season, it’ll be defined on how I do at the World Championships,” Fisher said.