Improved fitness has Canadian runner Moh Ahmed confident of return to world podium

At an altitude training camp earlier this month, Moh Ahmed didn't know if he was in good shape or would be at the start of this week's World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

Ahmed's performance in his only two outdoor track races this year — June 2 in Italy and July 21 in Monaco — was well shy of his 2020 Olympic silver-medal effort in Tokyo over 5,000 metres.

"I know training has indicated better," the Canadian runner told CBC Sports from Switzerland, where he was getting acclimated to the six-hour time change. "I should be ready and competitive [at worlds], and better than last year."

Ahmed qualified third for Sunday's 16-man final in the 5,000, clocking 13 minutes 33.16 seconds for third in the second of two heats on Thursday at the National Athletics Centre. Luis Grijalva of Guatemala led the way in 13:32.72. In the 2022 world final, Grijalva passed Ahmed 20 metres from the line and finished one place ahead of him in fourth. 

Kenya's Jacob Krop, who was second in that race, finished in a tie for seventh in Ahmed's heat in 13:33.63. The top eight in each heat advanced to Sunday's final at 2:20 p.m. ET, with live coverage available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

WATCH | Ahmed advances to the men's world 5,000m final on Sunday:

Ontario's Mohammed Ahmed advances to 5,000 metre final at worlds

1 year ago

Duration 1:13

Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ont., ran to a time of 13:33.16 in the second heat of the 5,000 metre race, good enough to advance to the final at the World Athletics Championships.

Thursday's first heat was slower, with Mohamed Katir of Span topping the field in 13:35.90. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the reigning world champion from Norway, was third in a season-best 13:36.21 after a silver-medal performance in the men's 1,500 on Wednesday.

Ben Flanagan of Kitchener, Ont., was 23rd overall of 43 finishers at his debut worlds. He stopped the clock in 13:38.69, 2.14 seconds behind Norway's Narve Gilje Nordas, the eighth and final qualifier in the heat.

On Sunday, Ahmed finished in 27 minutes 56.43 seconds for a sixth-place result in his first 10,000 on the track this season. That matched the St. Catharines, Ont., native's result from the previous two world championships in Eugene, Ore., in 2022 in and Doha, Qatar in 2019.

Before arriving in Budapest, Ahmed noted he was happy with his training volume, consistency and physical well-being between sessions since Day 1 last October. At last year's worlds, he was fifth in the 5,000.

"It hasn't been perfect, and I've had little setbacks here and there," said Ahmed, who was hampered by a minor hamstring issue over the winter. "[But] I've seen glimpses of good movement and feeling in my body [throughout the season] that would indicate [I'm] heading in the right direction."

Recently, the 18th-fastest 5,000 runner in history and No. 2 all-time among North American men vowed to maintain a better presence throughout his two races in Budapest and delivered in the 10,000.

Missed opportunity

Ahmed stayed close to Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, Kenya's Daniel Ebenyo and Ethiopia's Selemon Barega before his closest competitors pulled away over the final 100 metres and finished in that order.

It was a case of missed opportunity last summer in Eugene, Ahmed stressed, particularly in the 5,000, won by the 22-year-old Ingebrigtsen.

Watch Athletics North every day during the World Athletics Championships on CBCSports.ca and CBC Sports YouTube Channel for a rundown of the day's top stories and events. Rob Pizzo will be joined by our track and field analysts, including Morgan Campbell, to bring you the latest storylines.

Ahmed made a move to the outside 1,000m from the finish and sat third with Ingebrigtsen, who took the lead for good with about 800 to go. Ahmed passed Bowerman teammate Grant Fisher into third 100 to the finish, but Oscar Chelimo overtook the Canadian on the outside while Luis Grijalva of Guatemala ran by Ahmed near the line.

"Nobody could match [Ingebrigtsen]. It was positioning," Ahmed, a four-time Canadian champion in the 5,000, remembered. "[What if] I was right behind him and in better position? I wasted a lot of energy to get to fourth and second for brief moments.

"I wish I ran the race smarter, put myself in better position well in advance [of the straightaway] and I think it would have given me a better outcome."

It doesn't mean he would have won a medal, cautioned Jerry Schumacher, who has coached Ahmed since 2014 at the now Eugene-based Bowerman Track Club.

"You can do everything perfect and not medal. I think he ran a little wide on the turn and that costs you," Schumacher added. "All you can do is maximize your potential on that day and see where it gets you."

Ahmed, the three-time Olympian who won 2019 world bronze in the 5,000 in Doha, said he misexecuted in last year's race.

"I had a medal with 50 [metres] to go," he recalled. "[It was] a home [world] championships and I wanted a medal. The fact I wasn't able to deliver for myself, my coaches and for my country, that was very, very disappointing. Many things went wrong."

WATCH | Ahmed claims 5,000m bronze at 2019 worlds:

Canada's Moh Ahmed claims 5,000 metres bronze at track and field worlds

5 years ago

Duration 3:03

Canadian Moh Ahmed reaches the podium with a time of 13 minutes 1.11 seconds.

Schumacher, who is also head coach of the University of Oregon cross-country and track and field program, raved about the 32-year-old athlete to CBC Sports when discussing how he looked running at 5,400 feet in Switzerland recently.

"I don't think we've seen the best of Moh yet," he said. "You want to time your moments well when you're an older athlete. He's sliding into better and better fitness.

"So many athletes this time of year are either maintaining or going backwards and hanging on. [Moh's] still getting better and I'm trying to be optimistic he's going to time this perfectly for Budapest."

WATCH l Breaking down what makes Ahmed a threat over 5,000 metres:

What makes runner Moh Ahmed so fast in the 5,000 metres?

3 years ago

Duration 4:24

Olympic medallist Moh Ahmed put Canada on the map in distance running. Olympic runner and CBC Sports analyst Kate Van Buskirk breaks down what makes him so good.

Never found rhythm

Those who watched Ahmed reach the finish line 10th in 13:01.58 in Monaco might have wondered if the Somalia-born runner was hanging on, despite a light race schedule this season. His personal best is 12:47.20 from July 10, 2020.

After arriving three days earlier following a long flight, he "felt off the entire race" and never found the proper footing or rhythm on a humid evening.

I don't remember [physically] hurting that bad or suffering for that much [in a race] in a long, long time.— Canadian distance runner Moh Ahmed on the men's 5,000 metres July 21 in Monaco

It was a 1-2-3 finish for Ethiopia, led by Hagos Gebrhiwet in a personal-best 12:42.18, followed by Berihu Aregawi (12:42.58) and Haile Bekele Telahun (12:42.70).

"A 12:41, 12:42-type race is what [I've] dreamt about [my] entire career," said Ahmed, who was fresh off six weeks of training at altitude in Park City, Utah after running 12:56.46 at the Golden Gala Diamond League meet in Florence, Italy. "Falling off [the lead group] pisses you off. Despite that and my mind going all sorts of places, I didn't let myself off the hook. I could have dropped out but battled hard.

"I don't remember [physically] hurting that bad or suffering for that much [in a race] in a long, long time."

WATCH | Phylicia George expects 'something special' from Canada's athletes:

Canadians to watch at the 2023 World Athletics Championships | Athletics North

1 year ago

Duration 5:51

Athletics Canada is sending 50 athletes to the 2023 Worlds Athletics Championships starting August 19th in Budapest, Hungary. Here we preview the Canadian contingent with someone whose done it all before; 3-time multi-sport Olympian Phylicia George.

Schumacher said he and Ahmed are "selective and smart" about where and how the latter races.

"It's not the amount of races [that matters] but the amount of high-quality races you have to be careful about," the coach said. "I'd rather err on the side of less racing than overracing going into a global championships."

Standing atop the medal podium at worlds or the Olympics remains the motivation for Ahmed, whose contract with Nike runs through next year's Summer Games in Paris.

"I've been inching closer these last eight years. I've tasted the podium," he said. "The biggest driver is to get what I don't have, which is gold or two medals [one each in the 5,000 and 10,000]. That's very hard to do.

"You have to go out there and take it. I want to display my fitness and the athlete I felt I've been capable of being for many, many years."

After worlds, Ahmed will return to the Diamond League circuit in a 5,000 race on Aug. 31 in Zurich and hopes to end his season at the Sept. 16-17 Prefontaine Classic, host of the Diamond League Final in Eugene.

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.