Mohammed Ahmed: 10,000m

Julia profiles 10,000m runner Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ont.

Julia Malleck June 28, 2012

Name: Mohammed Ahmed
Hometown: St. Catharine’s, Ont.
Club: Niagara Olympic Club (High school); University of Wisconsin (Current)
Coach: Mick Byrne (Wisconsin); Stuart Galloway / Sharon Stewart (Niagara Olympic)
Age: 21
Personal Best: 13:34.23 (5000m), 27:34.64 (10,000m)

Canadian Olympic Runners » Mohammed Ahmed | Canadian Running Magazine — Mohammed Ahmed at the 2012 Payton Jordan meet

Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, Mohammed Ahmed moved to Canada at age 11 where his family settled in St. Catharine’s, Ont. Ahmed began running competitively in 2005 and competing at the National level in 2007. He finished fourth at his first Canadian junior cross-country championship. Ahmed chose to go to the University of Wisconsin in 2010 because of its reputation in both athletics and academics.

Ahmed ran a qualifying time of 27:34.64, nearly 10 seconds under the Olympic “A” standard at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, California. The performance essentially assured him a spot on the Canadian team along with fellow distance runner Cam Levins. Ahmed is no stranger to international-level competition having completed in numerous events since 2008 on several Canadian Junior teams.

He was fourth at the world junior track and field championships in Moncton, in 29:11.75. He has also finished as high as 27th at the world cross-country championships. An All-American since 2009, Ahmed has established himself as one of the top NCAA runners.

Ahmed will be going into his senior year at the University of Wisconsin this September 2012 after competing in the Olympics. He credits his success to great coaching since he was in high school as well as working with high-level athletes at Wisconsin. After twice winning basketball MVP in high school, Canadians should be pleased that this incredible talent chose a career in track and field.

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