Mississippi State University’s Abdullahi Hassan demolished his 800m season opener on Saturday at Orange & Purple Invitational in Clemson, S.C. The Scarborough, Ont., native clocked a smouldering 1:45.53–smashing his personal best while narrowly missing Olympic medallist Marco Arop‘s Canadian record. Hassan’s time currently leads the NCAA and ranks as the second-fastest 800m performance in the world this year.
Although Arop’s indoor record of 1:45.50, set just last year in Fayetteville, N.C., was three-hundredths of a second out of reach, Hassan still managed to take down Arop’s Clemson University facility record of 1:45.90. His time from Saturday also demolished Mississippi’s program record and marks the sixth-fastest collegiate time ever.
Hassan’s previous personal best, which he set during the 2021 outdoor season, stood at 1:46.16. The 22-year-old is one of the most recent additions to the Mississippi State track team, but dominating the NCAA scene is nothing new for Hassan. In his undergraduate studies, he competed for the University of Wisconsin, where he held the school record with time of 1:46.61, and, on four occasions, earned All-American honours. Hassan graduated in the spring of 2024 before transferring to Mississippi for his master’s.
Hassan represented Team Canada at the 2021 World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, where he clinched bronze in the 800m. He also earned a spot on the Canadian squad headed to the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
On Jan. 17, the Mississippi State Bulldog opened his indoor season at the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville, Tenn., making his 1,000m debut. He raced to speedy 2:20.06–the ninth-fastest time in the NCAA so far this year.
