Canadian Olympic distance runner Moh Ahmed crashed out about 50 m from the final lap during the first round heat of the men’s 5,000-m sprint at Stade de France Wednesday. After the race Ahmed, who won the silver medal at the Tokyo 2021 Games, filed an appeal with the Olympic sports court that he was tripped, but the appeal was rejected. "People were pushing quite a lot, but I thought I was holding my position," Ahmed told the CBC after the race. "Maybe I put myself in a terrible position [on the rail]. I was making my move. I just ate it hard,” he said, adding to other runners “clipped me from the back.” .Of the 20-man race, five athletes in total fell. "We were all going down like skittles. It seemed crazy out there," he added. "I was tucked in on the inside on the last lap, which was where I wanted to be. I knew some sort of gap would open up in the straight. It did, and I was ready to put my foot down. Then all of a sudden, 'Boom,' down I went."Ahmed, a four-time Olympian, finished 16th with a time of 14:15.76. In total, 18 runners finished the race. Narve Gilje Nordås of Norway won the race in 14:06.16, followed by Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia with 14:08.18. The finals are scheduled for Saturday. Canadian Thomas Farfad has secured a spot to compete.
