After the race of his life at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., April 29, men’s distance track runner Mohammed Ahmed has nearly solidified himself a spot in the 2012 Olympic Games this summer in London.
His 10,000-meter time of 27 minutes and 34 seconds, which was the sixth fastest time at the event and Ahmed’s personal best time, easily qualified Ahmed for the Olympic “A” standard racing time required to be eligible for the Olympic games.
Still, despite his once-in-a-lifetime run in California, Ahmed will need to do the same thing again at the June 27 Canada Olympic Trials if he is to qualify for the Canadian Olympic Team. With the collegiate track season still in progress, some questions have arisen concerning how effective Ahmed will be for the Badger track team for the final few weeks of the season, including the Big Ten Championships May 11-13 in Madison, with the Olympic Trials in June in the back of his mind.
“Getting the standard out of the way helps,” Ahmed said. “That relieves a lot of pressure off of my shoulders, and I should be able to focus on the school season, … but we are going to see how we approach the training or if I need to ease up and rest a little bit as we approach the Olympics.”
The 2011-12 cross country and track seasons have been nothing but highs for Ahmed, who, along with his teammates, won both the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA cross country title in the fall before transitioning to the spring track season, where he holds the fastest time in the 10,000 meters across the Big Ten this season.
Having an athlete of his caliber on the team has led to a competitive team environment that, in some teams, could cause rifts within the ranks, but this has not been the case with Ahmed and his teammates. Affectionately called “Mo” by his teammates, Ahmed’s success has allowed everyone on the team to improve this season.
“We all have the same goal and we all strive for the same thing,” fellow distance runner Zach Mellon said. “So to see it manifest itself in Mo, and just his dedication, that pushes us just as hard as any of our hard workouts do.”
At the same time, distance track coach Mick Byrne stressed the importance of Ahmed’s ability to stay grounded despite all of the success he has experienced this year.
“He has had to switch off from being this world-class athlete that just qualified for the Olympic Games to being a UW student,” Byrne said. “Now, it’s back to reality, it’s back to having finals. You have to get grounded pretty quickly.”
While Ahmed’s qualifying run is a tremendous accomplishment for a junior in college, his feat could have benefits for more than just himself. At a meet with so many high profile runners – as was the case in the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational – Ahmed’s race will serve to galvanize what is already a fairly famous distance track program at UW. With more attention in the track world being given to the Badgers, the UW men’s track team is bound to gain many recruiting benefits as a result.
“When you take a big meet like the Payton Jordan meet at Stanford [on April 29], we had all the top middle-distance and distance athletes, not only in the United States, but from all over the world,” Byrne said. “Success like that certainly isn’t going to hurt your program, and high school coaches, because of the mass media now, they can track it online. It’s just excellent exposure for us.”
For a prime example of the recruiting windfall that a well-known program can receive, look no further than Ahmed himself. A track star at St. Catherine’s High School in Ontario, Canada, Ahmed had numerous colleges courting him before he finally chose to come to Madison three years ago.
“The tradition here is definitely one of the reasons that I chose to come here,” Ahmed said. “There is a great balance between athletics and academics here.
“Obviously Mick [Byrne] has trained so many great athletes as a coach here, and when I was looking to choose a school, I wanted a coach I could trust, and Mick was that.”
With all the hype surrounding Ahmed and the UW track program, which is now ranked 17th nationally as the team finishes out its season, it may seem like he has not had a chance to celebrate his accomplishment. Still, Ahmed knows that the next few weeks of intense training with the team will only help bring him one step closer to the opportunity of a lifetime this summer in London.
“It’s something that I have thought about for years,” Ahmed said. “I have worked hard for this, and to get this opportunity is almost like a dream for me.”