Canadian Olympic distance runner Moh Ahmed faced a major hurdle on Wednesday when he was tripped during a pivotal moment of the first-round heat of the men’s 5000m at the Paris Games.
While he was just 600 metres from the finish line, the 33-year-old could not get back into a favourable position, ultimately finishing the race in 16th place.
"That really truly sucks" š
After absolute carnage in his men's 5000m heat, Canada's Moh Ahmed has his appeal denied and will not make the final
More: https://t.co/vLT9YvMtLt pic.twitter.com/8NihRDcTbH
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 7, 2024
After the race, Ahmed, who won silver in the same event at the Tokyo 2020 Games, claimed that some competitors were pushing.
“People were pushing quite a lot, but I thought I was holding my position. I just ate it hard,” he told Devin Heroux of CBC. “It’s unfortunate what happened there and hopefully the right thing gets done.”
Ahmed later filed an appeal with Athletics Canada. Unfortunately, as per CBC’s Devin Heroux, it was denied.
“While running in the pack Moh stood on the ankle of an athlete in front of him, which caused him to fall,” said the statement shared with CBC.
From Athletics Canada.
The ruling on Moh Ahmedās denied appeal.
Hereās the full statement: pic.twitter.com/WLfluNJy3H
— Devin Heroux (@Devin_Heroux) August 7, 2024
Ahmed wasn’t the only one to hit the ground during the race, though. Adding to the chaos of the final lap, a handful of other Olympic runners also suffered falls after him.
Then with four laps to go in the second heat, a stampede of sorts nearly formed when a cameraman on the track presented runners with an unexpected obstacle, causing a few to almost lose their footing.
As if the 5000m heats weren't chaotic enough this morning at #Paris2024…
A cameraman was caught on the track and almost caused more casualties as athletes had to run around him š³ pic.twitter.com/60OwRBfV2K
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 7, 2024
Ahmed saw a much better result in the men’s 10,000m on Monday, narrowly missing the bronze medal with a fourth-place finish.
āHonestly, I have no regrets,ā Ahmed remarked. āI think I ran that really, really f*cking well.ā