Moh Ahmed dazzles in Canadian 5,000m final with championship record

Canada’s greatest men’s distance runner, Moh Ahmed, had his hands full on Thursday night in the men’s 5,000m at the 2024 Bell Canadian Olympic Track and Field Trials in Montreal, with Quebec’s Thomas Fafard chasing the Olympic standard of 13 minutes and five seconds from the start. Ahmed stuck with the pace and dazzled as he won the men’s 5,000m title in a new championship record time of 13:10.99.

Ahmed’s finishing time is the fastest ever by a domestic athlete on Canadian soil, breaking the previous record by two seconds.

The men’s race went out at a 13-minute pace, with Fafard needing a time of 13:20 or faster to improve his Paris 2024 qualification spot in the rankings. He was paced by his teammate and newly crowned national steeplechase champion, Jean-Simon Desgagnés, for 2,000m. Once Desgagnés stepped off, Fafard kept the pedal to the metal but was unable to hold off Ahmed’s momentum in the final 1,000m.

“I love this racing style,” says Ahmed. “Thomas made it an honest race.”

Moh Ahmed signs the Air Canada ticket to Paris 2024 after winning the men’s 5,000m at the 2024 Bell Canadian Track and Field Olympic Trials. Photo: Kevin Mackinnon

This is the 21st time in Ahmed’s career that he has finished a men’s 5,000m under the 13:12.00 mark—a feat every other athlete but Ahmed has only achieved six times. This is the second event he’s qualified for in Paris; he’s already been named to Team Canada in the 10,000m event.

Fafard crossed the line for second place ahead of Ben Flanagan in 13:18.02—the second-fastest time of his career. Flanagan rounded out the podium in 13:29.42. Earlier this season, Fafard missed the Olympic standard in the 5,000m by seven one-hundredths of a second, running 13:05.07. He currently sits inside the World Athletics Paris 2024 selection quota, but things can still change between now and when the window closes on Sunday, June 30.

posted Friday June 28th