Mohammed Ahmed was born in Mogadishu, Somalia to Said Yusuf and Halimo Farah, and moved to Canada at the age of 11. He began running track at the age of 16. Mohammed Ahmed's family is originally from Hargeisa, Somaliland.
Running career
Youth
Before college, Mohammed Ahmed was the Canadian Junior 5000 m champion on four occasions, and twice finished in the top 10 at World Junior Championships, to go along with 2 Canadian senior titles in the event. Ahmed's resume also includes a Pan American Junior title.
Collegiate
Ahmed attended the St. Catharines Collegiate and Ahmed attended University of Wisconsin–Madison until he graduated in the summer of 2014. During his time at college he amassed 11 NCAA All-American awards in track and cross country and an Olympic berth in the 10,000 m at the 2012 London Olympic Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he finished in 18th place. At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Mohammed clocked the best time over 10,000 m in Canadian history with his 9th-place finish, almost equaling his lifetime best in the process with a 27:35.76 result. He competed in the 5000 and 10000 m at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing in 5th and 6th place respectively.
Professional
At the 2015 World Championships, Ahmed competed in the 5000 m only, finishing in 12th place. On May 28, 2016, Ahmed set a personal best and Canadian National Record in the 5000 m at the Prefontaine Classic, finishing in a time of 13:01.74 Ahmed finished in 4th place in the 5000m at the 2016 Rio Olympics with a time of 13:05.94, 1.5 seconds short of the bronze medal. On August 4, 2017, Ahmed set a personal best and Canadian National Record in the 10000 m, placing 8th at the 2017 IAAF World Championships with a time of 27:02.35 Ahmed was nominated for Sports Person of the Year at the International Somali Awards 2018. That year, he also won two silver medals at the Commonwealth Games, in both the 5000 and 10000 m. Competing at the 2019 World Athletics Championships, Ahmed won the bronze medal in the 5000 m event, the first for a Canadian runner. Ahmed led late in the race, briefly dropping to fifth position in the final stretch, before recovering to take third place. On July 10, 2020, competing at the Portland Intrasquad Meet II in Portland, Oregon, Ahmed set a personal best and Canadian National Record in the men's 5000m with a time of 12:47.20.
