Ahmad Hassan Abdullah (, born Albert Chepkurui on July 29, 1981 in

Kaptarakwa Kapatarakwa is a village in Elgeyo-Marakwet County, Kenya. Kaptarakwa is located about 37 km from the town of Eldoret in the Kenyan highlands. Kaptarakwa is about above sea level. Nearby is the Kerio Escarpment which drops down to above sea ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

) is a

long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling *Long-distance operator *Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths *Long-distance trail *European long-dista ...

and

cross country runner Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

, now representing

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

after his switch from Kenya in 2003. Other runners who have made the same switch include Saif Saeed Shaheen. Abdullah has won

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

s at the

2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 2005 IAAF World Cross Country Championships took place on March 19/20, 2005. The races were held at the Hippodrome Joseph Desjoyaux in Saint-Galmier near Saint-Étienne, France. Reports of the event were given in ''The New York Times'', ...

and the 2004 and 2008 editions of the

IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The World Athletics Road Running Championships is a biennial international road running competition organised by World Athletics. The competition was launched as the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 1992 and held annually until 2010. It wa ...

. He represented Qatar over

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship-level events. The ...

at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and three times at the

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

. He is a two-time Asian champion in the 10,000 m (2003 and 2007) and holds the Asian record with his personal best time of 26:38.76 minutes.

Career

Abdullah has competed numerous times at the

IAAF World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the In ...

. He made his first appearance as a junior athlete at the 1999 race, finishing in fifth place. In the senior section, he was sixth in the 2001 short race and 2002 long race, before missing 2003 amid his switch to represent Qatar. He returned in 2004 to take fourth in the short race. In 2005 he race in both races and was the long race bronze medallist and eighth in the short race. He performed less well after that, with finishes ranging from eighth to 18th in the period from 2006 to 2010.Abdullah Ahmad Hassan
IAAF. Retrieved 1 May 2012. He has enjoyed success at the

Asian Cross Country Championships The Asian Cross Country Championships is a biennial regional cross country running competition for athletes from Asia. It is organised by the Asian Athletics Association and was first held in 1991 in Fukuoka, Japan. The competition has been held ...

, winning the individual and team

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s at the 2007 and 2009 competitions. He won both the individual and team titles at the 2008 edition of the

World Military Cross Country Championships The World Military Cross Country Championships is an international biennial cross country running competition organised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM). The competition is typically held in late February or early March. First he ...

. He has competed on the Spanish cross country circuit and won the

Cross Zornotza The Cross Internacional Zornotza is an annual cross country running event which takes place in January in Amorebieta-Etxano (Zornotza), the Basque Country, Spain. The competition was first held in 1954 and has taken place every year since, with th ...

in 2005. On the track Abdullah has typically competed in the 10,000 m. He holds the Asian and Qatari records for the distance with his personal best of 26:38.76 minutes, set at the

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

meeting in 2003. He was the bronze medallist in the event at the

2001 Goodwill Games The 2001 Goodwill Games was the fifth and final edition of the international multi-sport event. The competition was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, from 29 August to 9 September 2001. A total around 1300 athletes took part in 14 sporti ...

, In his first outings as a Qatari athlete he came fourth in the 10,000 m at the

2003 World Championships in Athletics The 9th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held from 23 August to 31 August 2003 in the streets of Paris and the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, F ...

, before taking the regional title in the event at the

2003 Asian Athletics Championships The 15th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Manila, Philippines on September 20–23, 2003 in sports, 2003. Results Men Women Medal table Participating nations * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

. At the

2007 Asian Athletics Championships The 17th Asian Athletics Championships were held on the Amman International Stadium in Amman, Jordan between 25 July and 29 July 2007. It was moved in the last minute from original host country Lebanon due to the unrest in that country. Countrie ...

, he won a second Asian title and also a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

over

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a sta ...

behind his compatriot Felix Kibore. He ran at the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member feder ...

, but did not manage to finish. On his Olympic debut at the

he came eighth in the 10,000 m and was the only runner in the top ten to represent a non-African nation. He was eleventh at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

, then was only a bronze medallist at the

2009 Asian Athletics Championships The 18th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, China in 2009. Results Men Track Field Women Track Field Medal table Participating nations * (12) * (1) * (1) * (77) * (22) * ...

, as he was beaten by two other former Kenyans, Nicholas Kemboi and

Hasan Mahboob Ali Hasan Mahboob (born Silas Kirui on 31 December 1981 in Kapsabet) is a Kenyan-born Bahraini long-distance runner. He became a naturalized citizen of Bahrain (switching from his birth country Kenya) ahead of the 2006 season. His personal best t ...

. At the

he has competed three times and reached the podium twice. He was third in 2004, 24th in 2007 and took a second bronze medal at the 2008 race. On the road circuit, he was the 2003 winner of the

Bellin Run The Bellin Run is a 10K (6.2-mile) race held annually on the east side of Green Bay, Wisconsin, just outside Bellin Memorial Hospital, the race's founding organization. The first Bellin 10K was held on June 12, 1977 and was known as the Bellin ...

. After a break from international competition lasting from late 2010 through 2011, Abdullah made his

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

debut in 2012 at the

Hamburg Marathon The Hamburg Marathon () is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of held in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, 13,938 participants were counted. The marathon is categorized as a IAAF Road Race Label Events, Gold Label Road Race by World A ...

and finished the race in a time of 2:08:36 hours, coming fifth overall.

International competitions

Personal bests

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000 m sho ...

- 7:43.01 min (1999) *

- 12:56.27 min (2003) *

- 26:38.76 min (2003) *

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish, or shortcu ...

- 1:01:46 hrs (2007) *

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

- 2:08:36 hrs (2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdullah, Ahmad Hassan 1981 births Living people Athletes from Elgeyo-Marakwet County Kenyan male long-distance runners Kenyan male cross country runners Kenyan male marathon runners Qatari male long-distance runners Qatari male marathon runners Qatari male cross country runners Olympic male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Qatar Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Asian Games competitors for Qatar Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Asian Games Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Qatar Asian Cross Country Championships winners Kenyan emigrants to Qatar Naturalized citizens of Qatar Qatari people of Kenyan descent Asian Athletics Championships winners Asian Athletics Championships medalists Naturalised athletes 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen 21st-century Qatari sportsmen

Career

International competitions

Personal bests

See also

References

External links