Paris Olympics: Fisher takes bronze in 10K; BYU alum Whittni Morgan through to 5000M final

AT THE GAMES — The first Olympic experience for "Gritty Whitty" isn't over just yet.

Former BYU track and field standout Whittni Orton Morgan finished eighth in her Olympic 5,000-meter debut Friday, clocking a season-best time of 15 minutes, 2.14 seconds to advance to Monday's final with a sixth-place finish in her heat at Stade de France.

"I am really proud of the way I ran" Morgan said in a statement. "If you saw me in college, I was not a smart racer. I feel like I ran so smart out there today. I was prepared to be really tough and I needed to be."

Her current coach agreed, and then some.

"Whittni ran a perfectly executed race and I am beyond proud," said BYU women's track and field and cross country coach Diljeet Taylor, who trains Morgan with Taylor Made Elite. "Faith and hope were the keys today, and wow, I am speechless."

The former Panguitch High multi-sport athlete who had knee surgery in November and returned to training in April opened the race boxed into the middle of the main pack, and fell towards the back of the main allotment of runners behind Uganda's Esther Chebet and Kenya's Beatrice Chebet a third of the way through the race.

Beatrice Chebet won the heat in 15:00.73, Ethiopia's Medina Eisa was second in 15:00.82 and Australia's Rose Davies third in 15:00.86 in what was the slower of the two preliminary heats.

But in the second heat with six runners that had previously eclipsed the 14-minute mark this season, Morgan — who ran a personal-best 15:09.47 in Boston in 2021 — was in 13th with a time of 12:14.2 through 4,000 meters. She pushed towards the front of the pack with about 800 meters remaining, jostling for a top-eight finish with a lap to go that would qualify the last-minute Olympian less than a year removed from knee surgery for the event's final.

Morgan's finale qualification means all three American athletes in the event qualified for Monday's final, including Elise Cranny and Kara Schweizer, who finished seventh and eighth in the first heat in 14:58.55 and 14:59.64, respectively.

Monday's final is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. MDT.

Fisher takes bronze in 10K

The first day of competition in athletics — or "track and field," as the sport is referred in the United States — featured mostly preliminary qualifying rounds and the start of the Olympic decathlon.

But it also featured the finals in the men's 10,000 meter — the first of two Olympic events for former Stanford star Grant Fisher, who trains out of Park City.

Fisher, who has signed with Utah's Run Elite Program, ran a season-best 26:43.46 to earn a spot on the Olympic podium for the first time in his career with bronze. He's just the second American male in 56 years to earn a medal in the event.

Fisher beat out Canada's Mohammed Ahmed by 0.33 seconds to claim a spot on the podium next to Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei (26:43.14) and Ethiopia's berth Aregawi (26:43.44).

"To have everything come together on the day is so hard," Fisher told KSL-TV after the race. "There are so many things that have to go right in the buildup to the Olympics, and you only get them every four years. To have them happen is so good."

The Calgary, Alberta, native who grew up in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is the North American record holder in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meter runs and trained with the prestigious Bowerman Track Club until 2023 and finished ninth at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021.

But back in 2023, Fisher left Bowerman after four years and relocated to Park City, reuniting with his high school coach Mike Scannell and diving into the local running community led by REP co-founders Jared Ward, Isaac Woods and Landon Southwick.

That's made plenty of difference, he admitted in an interview with LetsRun.com.

"I moved to Utah on my own; I didn't really know anybody," Fisher said. "All I had was my coach, basically. I didn't know who I was going to train with, who I was going to hang out with, what community I was going to be a part of. A lot of people in Utah have kind of adopted me as their own. It's a fantastic place to train, a fantastic place to live, and the community is awesome.

"I moved there hoping that would be one piece of the puzzle that got me on the puzzle — and it was," he added. "I really think being in Utah, having the support of everyone there has been so good."

Utahn Taylor Booth, USA eliminated from men's soccer tournament

Eden native Taylor Booth, the Real Salt Lake Academy product who currently plays for FC Utrecht in the Netherlands, was eliminated from the men's soccer tournament with the United States' 4-0 loss to Morocco in Friday's quarterfinals at Parc de Prince.

Booth entered the match in the 66th minute, similar to what he's done for the Yanks in all four matches in France.

Friday's quarterfinal was the furthest the United States has advanced in the Olympics since Sydney 2000, after not qualifying for the Summer Games since 2008.

Booth said representing his home country in the Olympics was "a dream come true."

"It's a special feeling, for sure. I mean, it's something you always watch as a kid," he told the Deseret News before the games.

Contributing: Alex Cabrero, KSL-TV

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