PARIS — Moh Ahmed’s remaining Olympic dream died in a crumpled heap on the Stade de France track on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old Canadian distance runner fell victim to the cruel realities of the 5,000 metres, a gruelling race on its own made tougher when athletes are bunched up in a pack and desperate to break free down the stretch in the final lap.
Ahmed, who won the silver medal in the 5,000 at the Tokyo Olympics, was the first to fall, and four other athletes in the heat did the same on the final corner. Those four athletes were all reinstated by the race referee. Ahmed was not.
“Unfortunately, while running in the pack, Moh stood on the ankle of an athlete in front of him, which caused him to fall,” Athletics Canada said in a statement. “We have watched the video several times with the (World Athletics) Video Referee and it was clear that Moh was not impeded or jostled before this happened and so it is considered his responsibility to avoid the athlete in front.
“In these circumstances he could not be reinstated.”
Ahmed got up off the track and finished the race in 14:15.76. He had finished fourth in the 10,000 metres earlier in the Olympic meet. He did not speak to reporters as he sprinted through the mixed zone on Wednesday following the race.
Fellow Canadian Thomas Fafard, who was running behind Ahmed when the fall occurred, emerged from the carnage to finish eighth and advance to the Olympic final in what was his first international race.
“That was crazy,” said Fafard, a 25-year-old from Repentigny, Que. “To be honest, I was pretty surprised that everyone was there. Obviously, it was a slow race so I knew it would be really chaotic but at this point I can’t imagine that it would be as much as this.”
He said he briefly thought about stopping to check on his teammate.
“I was like what the f— is going on. I almost stopped, like, making sure he was fine, but then I had to focus on my race, just try to stay in contact with the front pack and hope for the best in the last lap.”