Mohammed Ahmed

Biography

Mohammed Ahmed is the first Canadian athlete to stand on the podium in the 5000m at both the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships.

Ahmed made history at Tokyo 2020 where he won silver in the 5000m for Canada’s first Olympic medal in a long distance track event. That came just a few days after he finished sixth in the 10,000m, Canada’s best Olympic result in that event since 1912. 

Ahmed had previously posted a best-ever Canadian result in the 5000m at Rio 2016 when he finished an impressive fourth. He had initially finished in fifth place, was then disqualified for stepping on the inner line of the track, but was soon reinstated by the Jury of Appeal.

Ahmed had made history at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar when he won bronze in the 5000m, Canada’s first world championship medal in a long distance track event. It was also at those worlds that he lowered the national record in the 10,000m to 26:59.35 as he finished sixth in the event. He was the first Canadian to break the 27-minute mark in the 10,000m.

In one of his rare race opportunities in 2020, Ahmed broke his own national record in the 5000m, running 12:47.20 in July. While that record has stood, he broke the national mark in the 10,000m again in March 2022, running 26:34.14 at a meet in San Juan Capistrano, California. At that same meet in 2024, he ran his second-fastest 10,000m ever, going under the Olympic entry standard in the event for Paris 2024 with his time of 26:53.01.

Ahmed made his Olympic debut at London 2012 where he finished 18^th in the 10,000m. He had a breakthrough performance the following year when he finished ninth in the longest track event at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow. At the time, it was best-ever finish by a Canadian in the 10,000m at the World Championships, a result that Ahmed himself has since bettered.

Ahmed won 10,000m gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. In September 2015, he broke what had been a 17-year-old Canadian record in the 5000m, running 13:10.00 at a Diamond League meet in Brussels. Ahmed smashed his own mark by more than eight seconds in May 2016, running 13:01.74 at the Prefontaine classic in Eugene, Oregon. It was his second national record of 2016, having broken the nine-year-old 3000m indoor time in February.

In 2018, he won a pair of silver medals at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia in the 5000m and 10,000m.

As a junior, Ahmed won the 5000m at the 2009 Pan American Junior Championships and finished fourth in the 10,000m at the 2010 World Athletics Junior Championships in Moncton. He also owns the Canadian junior 10,000m record.

During his time at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he competed in track and cross-country, Ahmed was an eight-time All-American. He led the Badgers to the 2011 NCAA Cross Country Team Championship. He was the 2014 Big Ten Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year after finishing third in the 10,000m at the NCAA Championships.

A Little More About Mohammed

Getting into the Sport: Started running track at age 13 after seeing his brothers running track at school… Has wanted to compete for Team Canada since watching Athens 2004… Outside Interests: Graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014 where he studied political science… Enjoys reading, writing, listening to music and podcasts… Odds and Ends: Born in Somalia, he spent the first 10 years of his life in Kenya before moving to Canada with his family in 2001… Favourite quote: “Tagto daayo tamido ogoow” which means “Abandon that which has departed (yesterday/past) and rather ponder on that which is yet to come (tomorrow/future)” from his maternal grandmother Bulo Bulaye… Role models include three-time Olympic gold medallist Kenenisa Bekele, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Sullivan, Mohammed Farah, Hayley Wickenheiser and Clara Hughes… Nickname: Mospeed…