Hughes, Ahmed and Philibert-Thiboutot help Team Americas to Continental Cup victory
Hughes and Ahmed were second, and Philibert-Thiboutot was fourth
And the winner is……TEAM AMERICAS! ??? pic.twitter.com/2OzEcYIVCl
— IAAF Continental Cup (@iaafostrava2018) September 9, 2018
The Canadian men had a strong showing for team Americas at the 2018 IAAF Continental Cup help in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Team Americas scored 29 points over second place, Team Europe. The Continental Cup is a quadrennial competition among four continents with prize money nearly as big as the Diamond League.
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Matt Hughes got the Canadian contingent off to an impressive start with his second place finish in the 3,000m steeplechase. After a difficult race in the Diamond League final, Hughes came back strong in Ostrava to run an 8:29.70.
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Next up was three-time Canadian 1,500m champion Charles Philibert-Thiboutot. The 1,500m runner finished in fourth just behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in 3:40.90. Ingebrigtsen has had an amazing season, becoming the youngest winner of the European 1,500m final. The runner is 17-years-old.
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Mohammed Ahmed is coming off a strong showing in the Diamond League 5,000m final. Ahmed was just under two seconds off of his Canadian record of 13:01.74, running 13:03.08 in the strongest men’s 5,000m race of the season. He finished ninth.
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On Sunday, Ahmed ran slightly under-distance in the 3,000m finishing second in 7:57.99. Ahmed finished just behind American Paul Chelimo. Ahmed holds the Canadian record in the event at 7:40.49.
Most track runners will now wind-down for the season and take some much needed time away from the track. Ahmed said in an interview two weeks ago, “I’m going to go home and take a few weeks off–take my mind off of training. When you’re not running, you quickly stop thinking about training and the grind.”