It was heartbreak for Canadian distance runner Moh Ahmed in the men’s 10,000m final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships. The 34-year-old pulled out of the race around the eight-kilometre mark Sunday, limping off the track with an injury.
Ahmed has endured a difficult 2025 season, battling a calf strain suffered in the final weeks of preparation for these Tokyo championships. Aware that his build-up wasn’t ideal, Ahmed took a conservative approach early on, sitting near the back of the field.
The race began at a slow pace, due to the 28 C heat and 88 per cent humidity, conditions that Ahmed told Canadian Running made it hard to “find a rhythm.”
The 2020 Olympic silver medallist said he felt no calf pain during his warm-up and drills, but the discomfort began midway through the race. With five laps to go, his calf seized up, forcing him to stop.
Ahmed first sustained the injury at the 2025 Canadian Championships in Ottawa during a 5,000m race, which he was also unable to finish. After Sunday’s race, he was taken into medical, and has yet to decide whether he will start Friday’s 5,000m heats.
“Allez, Jimmy!”
The battle for the medals came down to a two-lap sprint. France’s Jimmy Gressier, the Diamond League 5,000m champion, surged to his first major championship medal, in 28:55.77.
MUST WATCH: French commentators go CRAZY watching Jimmy Gressier’s kick to win 10,000m gold #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/XnNAbv9bkE
— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) September 14, 2025
Since the World Athletics Championships’ inception in 1983, no French athlete had ever won gold in the men’s 10,000m. Gressier also became the first European world 10,000m champion since Mo Farah’s three-peat from 2013 to 2017. Though considered an underdog, Gressier’s recent form suggested he was the man to beat. Just two weeks ago, he won the Diamond League 5,000m final in Zurich with a similar last-lap kick.
Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha took silver in 28:55.80, while Andreas Almgren of Sweden won bronze, which was his country’s first-ever world championship medal in the 10,000m.
See here for full results from the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Canadian Running’s coverage of the 2025 World Athletics Championships is brought to you by ASICS Canada.
