Moh Ahmed hits Olympic 10,000m standard in California

Canada’s Moh Ahmed returned from injury on Saturday night at the Sound Running TheTEN meet in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Ahmed ran 26:53.01 to achieve the Olympic standard for the 10,000m, clocking the second-fastest time of his career over the distance.

Ahmed was one of eight runners to achieve the Olympic 10,000m standard of 27 minutes and finished only one second behind his former Bowerman Track Club teammate, Grant Fisher, who won the race in 26:52.04.

The 33-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., now holds both the Olympic 5K and 10K standards heading into the Paris Olympics. He is the only Canadian runner to ever break the 27-minute mark for 10,000m—a feat he’s accomplished three times. He holds the Canadian record of 26:34.14, which was set at theTEN event in 2022.

Heading into the race, there was uncertainty around Ahmed’s fitness as he pulled out of the 2024 Houston Half Marathon in January due to injury.

Ahmed was not the only Canadian runner in the men’s professional field. Ben Flanagan of Kitchener, Ont., also competed and ran to a personal best of 27:20.93 for 15th place, missing the Olympic standard by 20 seconds. After theTEN track meet, there are 16 men who’ve hit the Olympic standard out of the entry quota of 27, meaning there are 11 spots open for the next fastest qualifiers on World Athletics points. For Flanagan to move into one of those 11 next fastest qualifying spots, he would need to race another track 10,000m or road 10K.

There were also a few Canadian distance runners in the preliminary races. Toronto’s Andrew Alexander finished 13th in the Road to Tracktown 10,000m, just four seconds shy of his personal best. Jeremy Coughler of London, Ont., placed third in the sub-elite race in a new personal best of 28:28.30, while Quebec’s Thomas Fafard finished fifth in 28:39.29.

To view the full results from the Sound Running theTEN, check here.