Moh Ahmed runs under Olympic 10,000m standard after qualifying in 5,000 last July

For a third consecutive Olympics, Moh Ahmed will have the opportunity to race the men's 5,000- and 10,000-metre events this August in Paris.

The Canadian secured his spot in the latter event by finishing under the 27-minute automatic entry standard at Sound Running's The TEN outdoor race on Saturday night in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

The 33-year-old Ahmed finished fourth in the 25-lap race at J Serra High School in 26:53.01, a little under 19 seconds slower than his 26:34.14 performance at the 2022 event in the South Orange Country town.

Ahmed stopped the clock in 27:56.43 in his lone track 10,000 effort of 2023 at the World Athletics Championships last Aug. 20 in Budapest, Hungary. He was sixth in the 2021 Olympic final, clocking 27:47.76 in Tokyo.

"This is the race I've been building for this winter and [last] fall." Ahmed, a native of St. Catharines, Ont., told CBC Sports in February.

Ahmed met the 13:05.00 standard in the 5,000 for Paris last July 21, going 13:01.58 at a Diamond League professional meet in Monaco.

Five weeks later in Budapest, he was seventh in the world 5,000 final and sixth in the 10,000. Although he matched his placing in the 10,000 from the previous summer at worlds in Eugene, Ore., Ahmed left Hungary "bitterly disappointed" after a strong year of running.

"Maybe because of the lack of racing my racing instincts weren't there, I was kind of second-guessing myself," an out-of-breath Ahmed told Andi Petrillo of CBC Sports in Budapest. "That's what made the difference, but I put in great, great training and it's unfortunate I couldn't reward that training with a medal."

Training for Saturday's race was interrupted early in 2024 when Ahmed tweaked a hamstring/hip flexor in his final workout ahead