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One Olympian’s Secret Weapon? His High School Coach.

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The broad strokes of Grant Fisher’s path to the Paris Olympics began to take shape last October at a coffee shop in Salt Lake City.

Fisher, the American record-holder in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, had hired Mike Scannell as his coach, and, in some ways, the situation was a refreshing change for a runner in search of one. Yet the partnership also felt familiar, and for good reason: Scannell had been Fisher’s high school coach.