Ahmed, relay team add to Canada’s coffers

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This article was published 06/08/2021 (1541 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TOKYO – On a night that sprint star Andre De Grasse took the baton and raced into the history books as Canada’s most decorated male Olympian, Moh Ahmed dug deep and closed hard for the country’s first long distance medal.

Two nights after he raced to victory in the 200 metres, De Grasse took off in fifth place then ate up the track with a sizzling anchor leg to clinch Canada’s second consecutive Olympic bronze in the 4×100-metre relay on Friday.

In six races over two Olympics, the 26-year-old has climbed the medal podium in every one.

Asked what De Grasse’s accolades mean to his teammates, lead-off runner Aaron Brown stepped up to the microphone and said, simply: “GOAT.”

“Simple and plain. He deserves his flowers man, he shows up at every championship . . . Andre De Grasse is going to show up and come get medals. So, I’m just gonna big him up, this is my guy.

“Six medals. Six for six. Like Drake says (in a song by the same name), he’s a ‘6 God.'”

Earlier in the night, Ahmed chased down three runners over the final 200 metres to capture silver in the men’s 5,000. The 30-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont., with a Canadian flag around his narrow shoulders, bent to kiss the red rubberized track. When he stepped onto the medal podium, he clutched his head in his hands as if in disbelief.

“Every disappointment, every race that didn’t go to plan has got me here,” Ahmed said. “The shock in my face on the podium is the journey I’ve been on, 16 fricking years. I’m 30 years old. I don’t know how many more opportunities I have. To do it is incredible and I was so close in 2016 (in Rio, where he finished fourth). I was shedding tears of agony and defeat there.”

The only man to beat Ahmed was Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, the world record-holder. Cheptegei finished in 12 minutes 58.15 seconds followed by Ahmed at 12:58.61. Paul Chelimo of the United States took bronze in 12:59.05.

Ahmed read the body language of the sweat-drenched runners in front of him and pounced.

“(I saw) the grit, the pain. I was hurting too but I was like stay smooth, stay relaxed. I have a lot of frustration and a lot of disappointments in my body these last five years, so I knew that last 200 metres I was going to summon that pain. ‘Not again’ kind of thing.

“Stay smooth. Fight for everything. That’s what I was telling myself.”

Ahmed, who loves to write poetry, was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, moving to Canada with his family when he was 10. Four years ago, he lost thousands in prize money after he wasn’t permitted to board a flight to Europe to race on the Diamond League circuit. He was flagged at security in Portland both because of his name, and the fact that Somalia was on former U.S. president Donald Trump’s travel ban list.

It’s fitting that Ahmed delivered Canada’s first Olympic medal in the event. He’s blazed a trail for distance runners on the global scene for the past few years, and Justyn Knight of Toronto, who was seventh in the 5,000, had kind words for the runner whose footsteps he’s been following.

“I feel bad because I was racing too, but I was actually seeing (Ahmed) finish with 100 metres to go,” Knight said. “I actually thought he won the race. It was just phenomenal to see the way he closed. It’s very inspiring for someone like me and all the kids that are watching back home in Canada.”

Ahmed, who was sixth in the 10,000 earlier in the Games, invited Knight to accompany him on his victory lap around Olympic Stadium, sadly nearly empty due to the state of emergency in Tokyo. The two are North America’s fastest 5,000 metre runners ever.

“I didn’t know if I wanted to go . . . but I told myself that I was his bodyguard. I was his muscle. Just in case somebody jumped over the fence I was ready to protect him,” the 25-year-old Knight said with a laugh. “Moh is such a selfless guy. That was his moment. That’s his silver medal, something a long time coming.”

The men’s relay wrapped up the night in thrilling fashion when De Grasse turned on the jets to carry Canada across the line in 37.7 seconds, the best time on a season hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian team — Brown, Jerome Blake of Kelowna, B.C., Brendon Rodney of Toronto and De Grasse — hadn’t practised together until Tokyo. De Grasse skipped a sprint camp in Louisiana because his girlfriend Nia Ali was expecting their second child. Rodney contracted COVID-19 at the camp.

Their shaky baton exchanges showed the lack of practice. The Canadians weren’t satisfied with bronze.

“The overall impression was we should have done a lot more. We had errors in our stick passes,” Rodney said.

“Throughout the pandemic and everything, we really didn’t get a lot of time to practise or even be around each other, so this is great for the little bit of practice that we had.”

The four runners stared up at the giant stadium screen as the times were listed.

“We were more just kind of disappointed in that we didn’t win,” Rodney said.

Italy raced to gold in 37.5 seconds, followed by Britain in 37.51.

De Grasse passed five-time Olympic medallists Scott Moir (figure skating), Marc Gagnon, Charles Hamelin and Francois-Louis Tremblay (short-track speedskating), and Phil Edwards (track and field), on Canada’s all-time men’s medal table.

He now has two bronze and a silver from 2016 and added pair of bronze and a gold in Tokyo. He said there’s more where that came from.

“It’s always a great feeling. This is amazing, to win my sixth medal, just super happy,” De Grasse said. “Of course, just try to keep getting better every time. I look forward to Paris in (three) years and try to do it again.”

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Canada won gold in the event at the 1996 Atlanta Games with a team that included Donovan Bailey, who also won the 100 metres at that Games, and Bruny Surin.

Meanwhile, Gabriela DeBues-Stafford finished fifth in the women’s 1,500 metres with a time of 3:58.93. The Torontonian was among the leaders for much of the race, but fell back once the three medallists took charge of the race over the final lap.

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya defended her 1,500 title in 3:53.11. She was followed by Laura Muir of Britain (3:54.500) and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands (3:55.86).

Gabriela’s younger sister Lucia Stafford was a semifinalist in the 1,500 in Tokyo.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 6, 2021.