Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines, Ontario broke his own Canadian record in the men’s 5000 metres on Friday according to Athletics Weekly. Ahmed posted a time of 12 minutes, 47.20 seconds in winning the gold medal at the 2020 Portland Intrasquad Meet II.
Ahmed broke his previous time of 12 minutes, 58.16 seconds. That result took place in the Golden Gala-Pietro Mennea at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy on June 6. The Golden Gala event was part of the Diamond League Series. Even though Ahmed set the Canadian record in the men’s 5000 metres a year ago, he did not reach the podium in the event and finished sixth. Telhaun Haile Bekele of Ethiopia posted a time of 12:52.98 to win the gold medal, and led an Ethiopian sweep.
In Portland, Ahmed reached the podium by two minutes, 26.8 seconds over American Woody Kincaid of Littleton, Colorado, who had a fourth-place time of 14:14.00. Lopez Lomong of Sudan won the silver medal with a time of 12:58.78. Marc Scott of Great Britain won the bronze medal with a time of 14:13.93.
Ahmed’s time of 12:47.20 is now the 10th fastest time ever. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia set the world record with a time of 12:37.35 in the Netherlands on May 31, 2004. Ahmed is a medal contender for Canada in the men’s 5000 metres at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021.
