Ahmed, Hughes and Philibert-Thiboutot named to Americas Continental Cup team

https://www.instagram.com/p/BltbbAxF22Q/?hl=en&taken-by=moh_speed23

Mohammed Ahmed, Matt Hughes and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot will represent team Americas at the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup September 8-9th in Ostrava, Czech Republic. The selection for team Americas comes from the Confederación Sudamericana de Atletismo (ConSudAtle) and the North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC).

RELATED: Continental Cup: the unknown IAAF track meet

Canadian 10,000m, 5,000m and 3,000m record holder, Ahmed, will run the 5,000m. The St. Catharines, Ont. native says that he trains for the big races: the Commonwealth Games, the Diamond League final and the Continental Cup. His coach, Jerry Schumacher, gets him and his Bowerman teammates ready for those events, and he’s ready to go. After the Diamond League final later this week, and the Continental Cup the week after, Ahmed will take a well deserved break at his family home in Canada.

RELATED: Mohammed Ahmed is looking for a win in this week’s Diamond League final

Hughes is the Canadian steeplechase record holder, and Bowerman Track Club teammate to Ahmed. The steeplechaser will run his primary event in Ostrava.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BltX6aNlw0W/?hl=en&taken-by=hughesteeple

The Continental Cup steeple is a little different from the other races at the event – it’s an elimination race. Elimination races will be run in the both the 3,000m and 3,000m steeplechase events. The IAAF guidelines state that “all eight competitors run the first 1400 metres (three and half laps) together. After that, the last runner through each lap will be eliminated. As a result, only four runners will reach the last lap.” Even if a runner is eliminated, they can score points based on which lap they were eliminated on. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bk-7_Yyl39K/?hl=en&taken-by=charlespt

Three-time nation 1,500m champion, Philibert-Thiboutot will race his primary event. He was third in the NACAC 1,500m, and reportedly disappointed in his result. He’ll be looking to redeem himself in Ostrava. 

The Continental Cup is known for huge prize money. The cash breaks down like this: first place $30,000, second place $15,000, third place $10,000, fourth place $7,000, fifth place $5,000, sixth place $3,000, seventh place $2,000, and eighth place $1,000. All prizes are awarded in USD. Between the 34 individual events, that’s nearly $2.5 million in prize money. The relays contribute an additional $204,000 USD to the pot. This means that every competitor gets a payday, as each region is only able to send two athletes per event. 

The Continental Cup is Live starting TOMORROW! Watch it here: https://t.co/zCzT9gYOpa pic.twitter.com/yJRkjTn82J

— Trackie (@Trackie) September 7, 2018

The full Americas team is linked here. The action gets underway September 8th with women’s 100m hurdles at 8:40 a.m. EDT. You can catch it live here.