Grant Fisher electrified the crowd at the Millrose Games in New York on Saturday, pulling off stunning indoor world record performance in the men’s 3,000m in an epic battle against Cole Hocker.
Fisher saved his best kick for the final two turns of the men’s 3,000 during a showdown with Olympic 1,500m champion Hocker. He pushed past Hocker on the last turn and bolted to the finish in 7:22.91, lowering Lamecha Girma’s mark of 7:23.81 from 2023.
By the midpoint of the race, Fisher and Hocker made it clear that it was a two-person race and the crowd could sense the closing moments would come down to who had enough to learn through the line first.
With three laps to go on the blue 200m track Hocker seemed poised to deliver a thrilling race but make sure that Fisher — and the rest of the field — would be able to put little defense against his lead. Fisher, however, thought otherwise and used a late stage move to take the win.
For his effort, Fisher came away with the world indoor mark and national record, which also included a $25,000 bonus on top of the prize money for the victory. Hocker finished in 7:23.14, a person best that is also under Girma’s previous time. Jimmy Gressier was third in 7:30.18, a new French national record.
“That really couldn’t have turned out any better. I’m kind of in shock, I didn’t think we’d go that fast,” Fisher said after the race. “I thought we might be able to challenge the American Record, thought I was in shape for that, and clearly Cole thought he was in pretty good shape too. I felt him on me that whole race, I don’t think he ever let any gaps form.”
Like Hocker, Fisher is still riding the momentum from the Paris Games. He won bronze in both the 5,000m and 10,000m and used his performance at The Armory on Saturday as a statement-defining notice for what the rest of the year could look like.
Meanwhile, Hocker shied away from take a moral victory from his second place finish.
“It was a really good race. I think you can tell right now how much I hate losing,” Hocker said. “I’ve had some amazing races, but I’ve never had that confidence that I had today. I’m really proud of how I ran that. It was a hard effort, and that’s the risk you run, there’s always the chance you’re not gonna get there. I ran 7:23, the best case scenario in my head was 7:26 and to win the race. It’s crazy to have any kind of disappointment after that, but it’s ingrained in me. I hate losing, but I have to give myself some respect.”
