Ahmad Hassan Abdullah ( ar, عبد الله أحمد حسن, born Albert Chepkurui on July 29, 1981 in

Kaptarakwa Kapatarakwa is a village in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. Kaptarakwa is located about 37 km from the town of Eldoret in the Kenyan highlands. Kaptarakwa is about above sea level. Nearby is the Kerio Escarpment which drops down to above sea ...

, Kenya) is a long-distance and cross country runner, now representing Qatar after his switch from Kenya in 2003. Other runners who have made the same switch include

Saif Saeed Shaheen Saif Saaeed Shaheen ( ar, سيف سعيد شاهين), formerly Stephen Cherono (born 15 October 1982), is a steeplechase runner. He was born in Keiyo, Kenya but now he represents Qatar. He currently holds the world record for 3000 metre stee ...

. Abdullah has won

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

s at the

2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', in ...

and the 2004 and 2008 editions of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. He represented Qatar over

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

and three times at the

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

. He is a two-time Asian champion in the 10,000 m (2003 and 2007) and holds the Asian record with his personal best time of 26:38.76 minutes.

Career

Abdullah has competed numerous times at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He made his first appearance as a junior athlete at the 1999 race, finishing in fifth place. In the senior section, he was sixth in the 2001 short race and 2002 long race, before missing 2003 amid his switch to represent Qatar. He returned in 2004 to take fourth in the short race. In 2005 he race in both races and was the long race bronze medallist and eighth in the short race. He performed less well after that, with finishes ranging from eighth to 18th in the period from 2006 to 2010.Abdullah Ahmad Hassan
IAAF. Retrieved 1 May 2012. He has enjoyed success at the Asian Cross Country Championships, winning the individual and team

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s at the 2007 and 2009 competitions. He won both the individual and team titles at the 2008 edition of the World Military Cross Country Championships. He has competed on the Spanish cross country circuit and won the Cross Zornotza in 2005. On the track Abdullah has typically competed in the 10,000 m. He holds the Asian and

Qatari records Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

for the distance with his personal best of 26:38.76 minutes, set at the Memorial Van Damme meeting in 2003. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the

2001 Goodwill Games The 2001 Goodwill Games was the fifth and final edition of the international multi-sport event. The competition was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 29 August to 9 September 2001. A total around 1300 athletes took part in 14 sportin ...

, In his first outings as a Qatari athlete he came fourth in the 10,000 m at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Men's results ...

, before taking the regional title in the event at the

2003 Asian Athletics Championships The 15th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Manila, Philippines on September 20–23, 2003. Results Men Women Medal table Participating nations * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

. At the

2007 Asian Athletics Championships The 17th Asian Athletics Championships were held on the Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan between 25 July and 29 July 2007. It was moved in the last minute from original host country Lebanon due to the unrest in that country. Countri ...

, he won a second Asian title and also a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

over

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

behind his compatriot

Felix Kibore Felix Kikwai Kibore ( ar, فيليكس كيبوري; born February 18, 1988, in Kenya) is a Qatari long-distance runner of Kenyan origin. Kibore represented Qatar at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where he competed for the men's 10,000 met ...

. He ran at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

, but did not manage to finish. On his Olympic debut at the

he came eighth in the 10,000 m and was the only runner in the top ten to represent a non-African nation. He was eleventh at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

, then was only a bronze medallist at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009. Results Men's results Track Field Women's results Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * ...

, as he was beaten by two other former Kenyans, Nicholas Kemboi and Hasan Mahboob. At the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships he has competed three times and reached the podium twice. He was third in 2004, 24th in 2007 and took a second bronze medal at the 2008 race. On the road circuit, he was the 2003 winner of the

Bellin Run The Bellin Run is a 10K (6.2-mile) race held annually on the east side of Green Bay, Wisconsin, just outside Bellin Memorial Hospital, the race's founding organization. The first Bellin 10K was held on June 12, 1977 and was known as the Bellin ...

. After a break from international competition lasting from late 2010 through 2011, Abdullah made his

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

debut in 2012 at the Hamburg Marathon and finished the race in a time of 2:08:36 hours, coming fifth overall.

International competitions

Personal bests

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

- 7:43.01 min (1999) *

- 12:56.27 min (2003) *

- 26:38.76 min (2003) * Half marathon - 1:01:46 hrs (2007) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

- 2:08:36 hrs (2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah, Ahmad Hassan 1981 births Living people People from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male cross country runners Kenyan male marathon runners Qatari male long-distance runners Qatari male marathon runners Qatari male cross country runners Olympic male long-distance runners Olympic athletes of Qatar Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games competitors for Qatar Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Qatar Asian Cross Country Championships winners Kenyan emigrants to Qatar Naturalised citizens of Qatar Qatari people of Kenyan descent

Career

International competitions

Personal bests

See also

References

External links