Appeal Denied for Canadian Runner Who Fell During 5,000M Olympic Race

Mohammed Ahmed of Team Canada falls during the opening heat of the men's 5000m event on Day 12 of the Paris Olympics at Stade de France on Aug. 7, 2024. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Canadian runner Moh Ahmed has been denied an appeal of his disqualification after he fell during the 5,000-metre event at the Paris Olympics.

The 2020 silver Olympic medallist took a tumble just before the final lap of the race on Aug. 7. The 33-year-old placed 16th in his heat and ranked 35th overall with a time of 14 minutes and 15.76 seconds.

“Unfortunately, while running in the pack, Moh stood on the ankle of an athlete in front of him, which caused him to fall,” Athletics Canada said in a statement to the media.

“We have watched the video several times with the WA [World Athletics] video referee and it was clear that Moh was not impeded or jostled before this happened and so it is considered his responsibility to avoid the athlete in front. In these circumstances, he could not be reinstated.”

Ahmed’s silver in the 5,000 metres in Tokyo was Canada’s first Olympic medal in a long-distance track event. He finished sixth in the 10,000-metre race just days earlier.

He had previously set a best-ever Canadian result in the 5,000 metres at Rio in 2016. He initially finished in fifth place but was reinstated by an appeal jury to finish in fourth.

The St. Catharines, Ont., athlete was born in Somalia and lived in Kenya until he was 10. The family moved to Canada in 2001.

He won bronze in the 5,000 metres in the 2019 World Athletics Championships. It was Canada’s first world championship medal in a long-distance track event.

Broke Own National Record

Ahmed broke his own national record in the 5,000 metres in 2020, with a time of 12 minutes and 47.20 seconds.

He also broke the Canadian national mark in the 10,000 metres in March 2022, with a time of 26 minutes and 34.14 seconds at a meet in California. He ran his second-fastest 10,000 metres ever at that meet at 26 minutes 53.01 seconds, under the Olympic entry standard in the event for Paris.

He debuted at the London 2012 Olympics, finishing 18th in the 10,000 metres.

Ahmed started running at age 13, after seeing his brothers run track at school. He has wanted to compete for Team Canada since watching the games in Athens in 2004, according to his Olympic profile.

He finished ninth in the 10,000 metre, at the 2013 World Athletics Championships in Moscow. It was the best-ever finish by a Canadian in the longest track event at the World Championships at the time.

Ahmed also won gold in the 10,000 metres at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. That same year, he broke a 17-year-old Canadian record in the 5,000 metres, running the race in 13 minutes and 10 seconds at a meet in Brussels.