Moh Ahmed 7th in men's 5,000m, misses podium at worlds for 2nd straight year
Canada 4th in women's 4x400 relay, Rory Linkletter top Canadian in men's marathon
Moh Ahmed will leave his second consecutive World Athletics Championships without a medal.
The Canadian distance runner finished seventh in the men's 5,000-metre final in 13 minutes 12.92 seconds on Sunday in Budapest. He was fifth last year after earning 2019 bronze in Doha, Qatar.
Last Sunday, Ahmed was sixth in his first 10,000 on the track this season, matching his placing in the event at worlds last summer in Eugene, Ore., but he'll leave Hungary "bitterly disappointed" after a strong past year.
"Maybe because of the lack of racing my racing instincts weren't there, I was kind of second-guessing myself," an out-of-breath Ahmed told Andi Petrillo of CBC Sports. "That's what made the difference but I put in great, great training and it's unfortunate I couldn't reward that training with a medal."
Jakob Ingebrigtsen, the 22-year-old from Norway, delivered a sensational finish and successfully defended his world title. He overtook Mohamid Katir in the final few metres and reached the line in 13:11.30, with the Spaniard clocking 13:11.44 ahead of bronze medallist Jacob Krop of Kenya (13:12.28).
Ahmed, despite racing the 5,000 only twice this season before worlds — June 2 in Italy and July 21 in Monaco —believed he was ready and would be competitive in his two races following a month of altitude training in Switzerland.
Even Jerry Schumacher, his coach of nine years at the now Eugene-based Bowerman Track Club, raved about the 32-year-old athlete when discussing how he looked running at 5,400 feet.
"I don't think we've seen the best of Moh yet," Schumacher told CBC Sports earlier this month. "You want to time your moments well when you're an older athlete. He's sliding into better and better fitness."
Ahmed raced the 5,000 twice before last year's worlds and the Olympics in 2021 but added a pair of 1,500s leading up to the Summer Games in Tokyo, where the St. Catharines, Ont., native won silver to become Canada's first Olympic medallist at the distance.
"Nobody's bashful about getting after it early in the season. It seems everyone is in full-attack mode," said Schumacher. "It's something for us to think about in the future if it's a good direction [for Ahmed]."
The coach noted he and Ahmed are "selective and smart" about where and how they race and prefers to race less than risk overracing entering a global championships.
"I don't know that learning more about [your competitors] helps you beat them," he said. "On the day, it comes down to what you have versus what they have. You can't play defence against the competition. All you can do is maximize your potential on that day and see where it gets you."
On Sunday, Ahmed asserted himself early in the race at the National Athletics Centre, joining the other 16 runners from the outside lane. Ahmed settled in the pack and climbed as high as fifth but spent much of the race between sixth and 11th.
"I could not get myself any closer to the front. I was leading for a lap or so and fought really hard," Ahmed said. "I think I closed pretty well. I was flying down that last 50 [metres] unlike the 10,000 metres.
"I ran into somebody in front of me. I had to come to a dead stop and try to pick it up but it's hard. I wish I had an opening to see what I had [left in me] but that's a crapshoot.
"It's positioning," continued Ahmed. "How do you get yourself to a better position with a lap to go, 100 metres to go, and finish?"
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 [world] gold or two medals [one each in the 5,000 and 10,000]. That's very hard to do."
Ahmed was scheduled to return to the Diamond League professional circuit in a 5,000 race this Thursday in Zurich but his name is not on the entry list. He is hopeful of ending his season at the Sept. 16-17 Prefontaine Classic, host of the Diamond League Final in Eugene.
In other action, Zoe Sherar, Aiyanna Stiverne, Kyra Constantine and Grace Konrad from Canada were fourth in the women's 4x400 relay in 3:22.42, 1.38 seconds behind the bronze medallists from Great Britain.
They lowered their 3:23.29 season best from Saturday. Charmaine Crooks, Molly Killingbeck, Jillian Richardson-Briscoe and Marita Payne-Wiggins boast a Canadian-record 3:21.21 from the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Canada earned six medals in Budapest — two more than last year — and tied Spain for second with four gold behind the United States' 12.
Canadian marathoners inside top 30
Earlier Sunday, Rory Linkletter cracked the top-20 at his second consecutive worlds, finishing 19th to lead a trio of Canadians who finished under two hours 16 minutes on a hot and humid Sunday morning.
The Calgary-born Linkletter led the way in two hours 12 minutes 16 seconds, his first race in eight weeks since placing 17th on the road at the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta.
Linkletter sat 60th at the 10-kilometre mark of Sunday's 42.2 km race. He told Canadian Running he couldn't have executed a 41-position climb to the finish any better, given the conditions.
"I felt the best I ever felt in the middle of a marathon; the course was exceptional," said the 27-year-old, who holds dual citizenship after moving from Canada at the age of six. The Arizona resident became a U.S. citizen three years ago.
Sunday was the seventh marathon for Linkletter and his second fastest behind the 2:10:24 effort at last year's world marathon in Eugene, Ore., where he was 20th.
It was a tough first few month of 2023 for Linkletter. In January, he pulled out of the Houston Half Marathon after being "riddled with illness" a month earlier. He also withdrew from the London Marathon in April due to an issue with his IT [iliotibial] band, a thick band of fibrous tissue that runs on the outside of the leg.
Ben Preisner of Milton, Ont., was 28th on Sunday in 2:15:02, followed by Justin Kent of Surrey, B.C., who clocked 2:15:26 for 30th of 60 finishers. Twenty-four athletes didn't finish, including 2024 champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia, who said he dealt with stomach issues.
Uganda's Kiplangat wins in 2:08:53
Victor Kiplangat of Uganda executed his game plan to near perfection, pulling away late to win in 2:08:53, edging Maru Teferi of Israel by 19 seconds. Leul Gebresilase of Ethiopia took home bronze (2:09:19).
"It was hard today because it was so hot, but I felt comfortable because I prepared well for this weather," the 23-year-old Kiplangat said. "I always felt I had the power."
In other events Sunday:
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Winfred Yavi of Bahrain stalked world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech for all but one lap of the women's 3,000 steeplechase, surging past the Kenyan over the final 400m to capture gold. The 23-year-old Yavi crossed the finish line in a season world-leading eight minutes 54.29 seconds — fourth fastest ever — for the victory, while the 32-year-old Chepkoech crossed in 8:58.98 for silver. Faith Cherotich, a 19-year-old from Kenya, captured the bronze in a personal best 9:00.69 to become the first teenager to climb the world medal podium in the event.
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Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the best high jumper in the war-torn country of Ukraine, won a gold medal to bring an emotional close to competition. Mahuchikh cleared 2.01m to win her first major outdoor title. The 21-year-old has been training in Germany, where her mother, sister and niece are also living, and other countries since being forced to leave quickly from her hometown of Dnipro shortly after the war began last year.
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The United States emphatically won its ninth men's world 4x400 gold from the last 10 finals, coming home well clear in 2:57.31. Quincy Hall and Vernon Norwood built an early lead before Justin Robinson, who also got a gold in the mixed relay, stretched it to give anchor Rai Benjamin a virtual lap of honour.
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Mary Moraa of Kenya delivered a storming finish to win 800 gold, proving too good on the final straight for race favourites Keely Hodgkinson and Athing Mu in a reshuffle of the medals from last year. Olympic and defending champion Mu, 21, set the pace from the gun but, having barely run the distance this season, was never able to open a gap. Moraa triumphed in a personal best 1:56.03.
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With files from Reuters & The Associated Press
