Now the veteran, Moh Ahmed to lead young Canadian runners into cross-country worlds

Moh Ahmed has spent nearly 20 years competing on a track, but says he’s always been intrigued by the team aspect of cross-country running.

In his junior season at the University of Wisconsin, a 19-year-old Ahmed helped the Badgers to the 2011 NCAA title on the way to claiming All-American distinction four times.

“The thing I rank the highest in my career is probably that title,” said the now 35-year-old Ahmed, who became Canada's first Olympic 5,000-metre medallist in 2021 with silver in Tokyo, two years after earning world championship bronze.

He was also a five-time NCAA All-American in track and Big Ten outdoor conference champion in 2010 (10,000m) and 2012 (5,000) “but one of my fondest memories is that 2011 season and the journey we had.

“There’s nothing like competing for conference and national titles with some of your best buddies. I rank it the highest because I share it with six other dudes [and] the guys who didn’t make the final roster for Big 10 championships and [NCAA] finals.”

Ahmed, who was inducted into the U. of Wisconsin Hall of Fame last September, is ready for his next title pursuit leading Canada in the men’s senior 10-kilometre race at his fourth World Athletics Cross-Country Championships on Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla.

The St. Catharines, Ont., native will be joined on the start line at 12:20 p.m. ET by Xavier Perras-Phaneuf (LaSalle, Que.), Santiago Gaitan (Welland, Ont.), Matt Talbot (Ailsa Craig, Ont.), Evan Burke (Kearney, Ont.) and Philippe Morneau Cartier (La Pocatière, Que.).

Live coverage of the World Athletics Cross-Country Championships will be available on CBC Gem and CBCSports.ca on Saturday at 9:45 a.m. ET.

That was the order of finish on Nov. 30 at the national championships in