– Kwemoi just earned his first global championship medal at 29 years old. He was a 1500m star as a junior and still holds the U20 1500m world record, 3:28.81, which remains his personal best. He has shifted his focus to the 5000m for much of the past two years, and was rewarded for it. In 2024, he ran his personal best of 13:02.56 at the Xiamen Diamond League in April and then won the Kenyan Olympic Trials with a 13:27.20 at altitude in Nairobi in June. Eight years after finishing last in the 2016 Olympic 1500m final, he found himself on the podium in Paris with a runner-up finish to Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the Olympic 5000m final.

– Fisher and Kwemoi will be Racers in the “long distance” category that competes in the 3000m and 5000m over two days at each respective Slam. They will receive points for their finishing position in the two races. After the two events, the athlete with the highest point total will win the Slam and the $100,000 prize for first place.

– Fisher is the American record holder in the 3000m (7:25.47), 5000m (12:46.96), and 10,000m (26:33.84). This year, he nearly took down his own 3000m American record en route to the 8:03.62 two-mile American record. He also finished second in the London Diamond League 3000m in 7:27.99 as a final tune-up before the Paris Olympics.

– Kwemoi ran his 7:28.73 personal best for 3000m in 2017. His most recent 3000m performance was a fifth place showing in 7:31.57 at the Silesia Diamond League, which was the same race where Ingebrigtsen broke the 3000m world record in 7:17.55.

– Kwemoi is the first Kenyan athlete to sign with Grand Slam Track.

What They Had To Say About Joining The League

Fisher, via press release, said: “I'm thrilled to be part of Grand Slam Track, which I believe is the future of our sport. Looking ahead to 2025, the opportunity to compete in four high-level Slams against the fastest men in the world marks a major shift for track and field. Building on the momentum from the Olympics, this gives us Racers an exciting chance to face off regularly, with big prizes and bragging rights at stake. I can’t wait to hit the track next year and see who’s truly the best.”

Also via press release, Kwemoi stated: “I am very excited to be the first athlete representing my country of Kenya in Grand Slam Track. I want to continue to test myself against the best runners in the world, and Grand Slam Track is the perfect stage for that. This league is a great project to be a part of, and it will be very exciting when the Slams begin next year.”

Who Else Fills The Remaining Racer Spots?

Jakob Ingebrigtsen (7:17.55 world record for 3000m, 12:48.45 European record for 5000m)

The 5000m Olympic champion would make perfect sense for this Grand Slam grouping. It all comes down to whether he wants to test himself in four 3000m and 5000m races in one season while also chasing records in the friendly confines of the Diamond League. When we previewed who could fill the last “short distance” Racer spot, we made the case for how he could make $400,000 for the season in this group. The two key factors at play for an Ingebrigtsen signing are whether he’s motivated by the money and whether he prefers to keep his flexibility of training in Europe by simply entering Slams as a Challenger when it fits his schedule.

Take your pick of the Ethiopian stars – Berihu Aregawi (7:21.28 Ethiopian national record for 3000m, 12:40.45 PB for 5000m); Yomif Kejelcha (7:23.64 PB for 3000m, 12:38.95 PB for 5000m); Telahun Haile (7:25.48 PB for 3000m, 12:42.70 PB for 5000m); Selemon Barega (7:25.82 PB for 3000m, 12:43.02 PB for 5000m); Hagos Gebriwhet (7:30.36 PB for 3000m, 12:36.73 Ethiopian national record for 5000m)

You can’t go wrong with possibly signing two of the five names in this crop or filling Challenger spots in races throughout the year with the depth from Ethiopia.

– Aregawi is coming off a season that saw him earn 10,000m Olympic silver medal, win the 5000m Diamond League crown, and clock the No. 3 all-time 3000m performance in history.

– Kejelcha is the fastest 10,000m runner of 2024, second-fastest in the 5000m, and seventh-fastest in the 3000m.

– Haile was third in the Diamond League final for the 5000m.

– Barega brings a long list of accolades at the global championships including the 2021 Olympic gold medal in the 10,000m and 2022 World Indoor Championship gold medal at 3000m. He was the bronze medalist in the 3000m at this year’s World Indoor championships behind Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse (who are Racers in the short distance group). He was seventh in the 10,000m at the Paris Olympics

– Gebriwhet is the fastest man in the world for 5000m this year and No. 2 on the all-time list with his incredible 12:36.73 from the Oslo Diamond League in May.

Jacob Kiplimo – (7:26.64 Ugandan national record for 3000m, 12:40.96 personal best for 5000m)

When Kiplimo races on the track, he’s always a force to be reckoned with. He’s run under 12:50 for 5000m four times in his career. He finished eighth in the 10,000m final at the Paris Olympics and then went on to run 58:09 at the Copenhagen Half. Based off his 2024 race record, we believe he’s more likely targeting the roads in 2025, rather than spending more time on the track.

Nico Young (7:37.73 personal best for 3000m, 12:57.14 personal best for 5000m)

If Grand Slam Track wants a proven stud who knows how to win an unpaced 3000m and 5000m race on back-to-back days, look no further than reigning NCAA Indoor 3000m and 5000m champion Nico Young, who also took 12th in 26:58.11 in the 10,000m final at the Paris Olympics.

Mohammed Ahmed (7:31.96 Canadian record for 3000m, 12:47.20 Canadian record for 5000m)

Ahmed is always in the mix at championship races, so the Grand Slam Track format would likely suit him well. In 2024, he had a pair of 12:54.22 performances for 5000m. At the Paris Olympics, he executed a strong race but finished fourth, just .33 seconds behind FIsher for the silver medal. He unfortunately fell in the penultimate lap of the 5000m heats. A hamstring injury forced him to postpone his half marathon debut in January of 2024 so we’ll have to wait and see if he’s more focused on testing the roads in 2025.

Luis Grijalva (7:29.43 Guatemalan national record for 3000m, 12:50.58 Guatemalan national record for 5000m)

Don’t let an unfortunate injury heading into the Paris Olympics lead you to forget that Grijalva is one of the best 5000m runners in the world. Grijalva was fourth in the 5000m final at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships. His personal best of 12:50.58 makes him the ninth-fastest man of the year in 2024 and eighth-fastest non-African in history. This year, he also showcased good 3000m speed with a 7:33.96, third-place outing at the Stockholm Diamond League.