Mo Ahmed sets record

LONDON (CP) — A national record, and a Canadian best-ever eighth place finish — but Mohammed Ahmed wants more.

The 26-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., laid down Canada’s finest performance over 10,000 metres at the world championships on Friday night, crossing in a national record time of 27 minutes 2.35 seconds. But moments after the race, his slender legs still wobbly from the effort, Ahmed said he’s thinking well beyond being Canada’s best.

“I’ve always thought of myself as a 10Ker, and last year was a big motivation to come back this year, and kind of take revenge a little bit,” said Ahmed, who topped Cam Levins’ record of 27:07.51 set in 2015. “I wanted to ball, I wanted to have fun, I wanted to fight. I did that, it just wasn’t enough.”

Ahmed rebounded in Rio to finish — a Canadian-best — fourth in the 5,000, and said his ability to stick with the best in the world filled him with confidence. It showed Friday night at London Stadium, as the Somali-born runner stayed with the lead group — as high up as third spot — for all but Lap 25 of the 25 laps.

Records are rare in championship races because they’re more tactical than fast. Friday’s race ignored that tendency, and Ahmed was stunned after running a 28-second personal best.

“If you were to tell me I’d finish eighth in 27:02, I would’ve said ‘You’re crazy man,”’ Ahmed said. “Those guys are incredible.”

“I was telling myself ‘Fight, compete, fight, compete.’ Every lap. I did that, I hung on, I just didn’t have quite enough over the last lap. That last lap was absolutely brutal.”

Hometown favourite and Olympic champion Mo Farah raced to his third world title in 26:49.51, to the delight of 55,000 fans, whose roar reached ear-splitting levels when the Brit glanced over his shoulder to pull away with about 150 metres to go.