Coming off a Bronze double in Paris, it looked like Grant Fisher had a target on his back for 2025. He wanted to make this season one big grand show, and he certainly did that. Two world records in a week! But grand things remind us that the Grand Slam Track is an arm’s length away, about to kick off its first leg in Kingston tomorrow. This time, it won’t be just Fisher but a whole list of athletes looking out for the $100,000 gold prize. But there can be just one slam champion. So, does this intimidate Fisher, or is he as cool as a cucumber?

Well, just look at the man’s form so far this season. He started off his season at the New Balance Grand Prix, where even a second position in the 1500m short track made Fisher the just the 28th man in history to break 3:34 indoors. Next, he doubled the distance to 3000m short track at the Millrose Games 2025, where he etched a 7:22.91 3000m World Record. And within just 6 days of it, he broke Kenenisa Bekele’s 5000m indoor world record at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational. So what now? With this resume, does he have a target on his back at the inaugural Grand Slam Track?

Well, Chris Chavez from Citius Mag asked Grant Fisher just this in Kingston on April 3. And here’s what the 27-year-old responded, saying, “I wouldn’t say so I mean.” He then explained with an anecdote, “I got Bronze in the 5K in Paris, and the silver medalist is in the race so our most recent meeting, Ronald beat me so I don’t think you could quite say favorite but I guess people can say whatever they want.” Fisher mentioned that the odds were stacked against him, while Ronald Kwemoi would be coming to Kingston as a heavy favorite.

But Grant Fisher? He’s still going in unfazed! He answered Chavez’s question further, “I’m going in ready to race some really good guys. I mean, Gebrhiwet almost broke the world record outdoor last year. I think he closed in like 54 or 55. I mean, that’s about as good as it gets.” He continued, “So I’m up against some really good competitors, and this is the time of year where some people might be super sharp, some people might not; it’s going to be a lot of question marks that are going to be answered, I think.” Fisher even anticipated that there would be evolving tactics in this race since this is just the start. He predicted that from the first to the second and to the next slam, a lot of stuff would change.

But yes, overall, Grant Fihser has had a short but fruitful indoor season. But now, he gears up for a fresh new assignment, the ‘Racers’ task at Grand Slam Track. Fisher is slated to run the 3000m/5000m double in the Slams in Kingston (April 4-6), Miami (May 2-4), Philadelphia (May 30- June 1), and Los Angeles (June 27-29). But the concern here is that Fisher’s just done a 3000m/5000m in a short space of time, but doing that double four times over the schedule will be very different. So, how will he manage that?

Grant Fisher is ready for the GST Challenge

Well, Grant Fisher told Athletics Weekly just 4 weeks ago that he likes a good challenge. He had said, “Talking about my event group – the 3000m/5000m double over two or three days – no one does that, so no one has experience of doing it. I just ran a 3000m/5000m double-double over six days, and that’s very different to running it over a Friday and then a Sunday race.” So yes, he doesn’t really sound sure how he will run such long distances in such close timings on the GST schedule.

But well, the unpredictability makes it interesting for him. “Will they be fast? Will they be slow? Will the challengers try to solo a 12:50? Who knows? But that’s compelling, and that’s what makes people watch, so I think it’s going to be really fun.” So yes, he’s going in with an unfazed person,a but he’s also ready to battle it out. He thinks that would polish his skills too. “I like the idea of racing the best guys in the world many times, not only because that’s what I want to do, but also because it’ll make me better at the World Championship as well if I have experience in unpaced tactical races against other medalists,” said Grant Fisher.

What do you think? Will he be able to emerge at the top at GST this weekend?