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

Grant Fisher, right, won bronze in Paris with the help of Mike Scannell, his coach for the Olympics and also his mentor in high school.Don’t miss a moment at the Paris Olympics. Sign up for our daily email to receive the biggest highlights, the latest medal count and the stories you won't see on TV.

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…