US Olympian becomes second American to medal in men's 10,000-meter race in 56 years

United States Olympian Grant Fisher won bronze on Friday in the men's Track and Field 10K race, making him the second American man to medal in the Olympic race since 1968.

The Paris Olympics, which began last week, has already seen multiple records set, with U.S. Swimmer Katie Ledecky becoming the most decorated female athlete in American Olympic history on Thursday. U.S. Gymnast Simone Biles also won her second Olympic all-around gold medal on Thursday, and teammate Sunisa Lee, a previous Olympic all-around winner, won the bronze.

Fisher finished his race on Friday in third, but was just shy of the silver, which went to Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi. Aregawi finished the race just .02 seconds ahead of Fisher, according to USA Today. Fisher previously finished fifth at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei finished first, and set a new Olympic record.

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

The last time the United States appeared on one of the three winner's podiums in the 10,000-meter race was during the London Olympics in 2012, when Galen Rupp won silver.

Two other Americans competed in Friday's race, but finished in 12th and 16th places respectively. 

The United States currently leads in the total medal count, with 43 medals at the time of publishing. But only nine of those medals are gold. The U.S. also has 18 silver medals, and 16 bronze.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.