After DQ confusion, Mohammed Ahmed advances to 5,000m final

After being bumped into Mo Farah during the men’s 5,000m heats, Mohammed Ahmed of Canada was initially disqualified from the final but after an appeal by Athletics Canada the 24-year-old was reinstated. He finished his heat third in 13:19.58 and will race the finals Saturday.

“There was a lot of jostling at the beginning and I tried to stay out of it, stayed at the back for the most part, looked for opening and navigated through the traffic. I got one of the five qualifiers so I’m happy; there was a lot of jostling. I felt really smooth out there,” said Ahmed in an Athletics Canada release. “I hope to be as competitive as I can, stick my nose in it and see what happen.”

Ahmed recently won the 10,000m at the Pan Am Games in Toronto.

Cam Levins ran to a 13:48.72, ninth in his heat, and will not advance.

Both of Canada’s female 800m runners, veteran Melissa Bishop and rookie Fiona Benson, advanced to the semifinals, to be run tomorrow. Bishop won her heat in 2:00.23 and Benson finished second in her heat with a 2:00.53.

Though lacking a Canadian, the men’s 400m final proved to be one of the premiere events so far of the championships, seeing Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa outrun the defending Olympic champion, Kirani James, and world champion, LaShawn Merritt. He finished in 43.48, making him the fourth-fastest 400m runner in history. Merritt finished second in 43.65, the fastest silver ever and James finished third in 43.73, the fastest bronze ever.

Kenya’s Hyvin Jepkemoi won the women’s steeplechase in 9:19.11.

Other Canadian results on the day included women’s 200m heats, where Kmberly Hyacinthe and Khamica Bingham qualifed for tomorrow’s semi-finals. Crystal Emmanuel did not advance.