Mohammed Ahmed (born January 5, 1991) is a Canadian long-distance runner. A three-time Olympian, he is his country's most successful athlete in long distance racing, being the first to medal in the 5000 metres at both the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

(bronze in

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) and the

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(silver in

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). As well he is a two-time silver medallist at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in the 5000m and 10,000m events and was the 2015 Pan American champion in the 10,000 m. He holds the eleventh-fastest 5000m time in history and has set several national and area records.

Early life

Ahmed was born in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

to Said Yusuf and Halimo Farah. Ahmed was raised in the town of El Afweyn in Somaliland, a town mainly inhabited by the

Habr Je'lo The Habr Je'lo ( so, Habar Jeclo, ar, هبر جعلو , Full Name: ''Mūsa ibn ash-Shaykh Isḥāq ibn Aḥmad,'' historically known as the Habr Toljaala ( so, Habar Toljeclo) is a major sub-tribe of the wider Isaaq family. Its members form ...

clan of the

Isaaq The Isaaq (also Isaq, Ishaak, Isaac) ( so, Reer Sheekh Isxaaq, ar, بني إسحاق, Banī Isḥāq) is a Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large and densely populated traditional territory. Pe ...

clan-family. His family moved to Kenya, and Moh spent the first ten years of his life there. His family then moved to St. Catharines,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

in Canada at the age of 11. He began running track at the age of 13 after watching his brothers run track at school.

Running career

Youth

Before college, Mohammed Ahmed was the Canadian junior 5000 m champion on four occasions and twice finished in the top ten at World Junior Championships (fourth in 2010, ninth in 2008), to go along with two Canadian senior titles in the event. Ahmed also won a Pan American Junior title.

Collegiate

Ahmed attended St. Catharines Collegiate before going on to the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, from which he graduated in 2014. During his time at college, he amassed eleven NCAA All-American awards in track and cross country and an Olympic berth in the 10,000 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics in

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, where he finished in eighteenth place. At the 2013 World Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

, Mohammed clocked the best time over 10,000 m in Canadian history with his ninth-place finish, almost equaling his lifetime best in the process with a 27:35.76 result. Ahmed was named to Canada's team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, where he competed in the

5000 5000 or ''variation'', may refer to: In general * A.D. 5000, the last year of the 5th millennium CE, an exceptional common year starting on Wednesday * 5000 BCE, a year in the 5th millennium BC * 5000s AD, a decade, century, millennium in the 6th ...

and 10,000 m, finishing in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Professional

Moving to the professional scene after his university career, Ahmed was part of the home team at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. He competed only in the 10,000 m, winning the gold medal. He went on to the 2015 World Championships, competing only in the 5000 m and finishing in twelfth place. On May 28, 2016, Ahmed set a personal best and Canadian national record in the 5000 m at the Prefontaine Classic, finishing in a time of 13:01.74 Competing as part of his second Canadian Olympic team, Ahmed placed thirty-second in the 10,000 m at the 2016 Summer Olympics in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a ...

. After this very dispiriting outcome, Ahmed finished in fourth place in the 5000 m with a time of 13:05.94, 1.5 seconds short of the bronze medal. He later said this left him "shedding tears of agony and defeat." Ahmed ran the eleventh-fastest indoor 5000 m in history in Boston in 2017, setting the Canadian national record in the process. On August 4, 2017, Ahmed set a personal best and Canadian national record in the 10,000 m, placing eighth at the

2017 World Championships in Athletics Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

with a time of 27:02.35 Ahmed was nominated for Sports Person of the Year at the International Somali Awards 2018. He also won two silver medals at the

that year, in both the 5000 and 10000 m. Competing at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

, Ahmed won the bronze medal in the 5000 m event, the first for a Canadian runner. Ahmed led late in the race, briefly dropping to fifth position in the final stretch before recovering to take third place. He was sixth in the 10,000 m at the same championships. Despite the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

causing the cancellation of much of the 2020 international season and delaying the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

by a year, Ahmed set a personal best and Canadian national record in the men's 5000 m with a time of 12:47.20 while competing at the Portland Intrasquad Meet II in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

on July 10, 2020. Ahmed was named to his third Olympic team in 2021. Competing first off in the 10,000 m event in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Ahmed finished sixth after briefly leading late in the race and running a season's best in the process. He next competed in the 5000 m event, where he had finished fourth in Rio five years before. Having already replicated his sixth-place disappointment in the 10,000 m at the prior World Championships, Ahmed had to rally himself mentally for the next race. He entered the final lap in sixth position before surging ahead into second position by the final 100 metres, winning the silver medal. He was the first Canadian to medal at this distance in the Olympics and remarked: "every race that didn’t go to plan has got me here." Disappointment awaited Ahmed in the 10,000 m at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, where he finished sixth once again. He remarked afterward that "I still haven't figured out the 10K. It's disappointing. I thought I prepared really well." He then finished fifth in the 5000 m, 0.26 seconds behind bronze medalist Oscar Chelimo of Uganda. Ahmed commented on the strength of the field, saying, "only four guys in this field didn't break sub-13. That tells you the depth of this event. I've got to fix some things, but not a bad result; top-five in the world."

Results

References

External links

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archive
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Mohammed 1991 births Living people Canadian male long-distance runners Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Black Canadian track and field athletes Somalian emigrants to Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada World Athletics Championships medalists Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Somalian male long-distance runners Sportspeople from Mogadishu Sportspeople from St. Catharines Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Canadian Track and Field Championships winners Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists for Canada 21st-century Canadian people