A marathon task for Mahamed Mahamed
Ahead of his Olympic debut at the Paris 2024 games, the Team GB long-distance runner talks about training, friendship and faith
–
Mahamed Mahamed has taken part in only two marathons in his life, but he has already secured his place as Britain’s third fastest runner of all time over 26.2 miles. Now, the 26-year-old athlete is set to make his Olympic debut, representing Great Britain in Paris. Still, he insists that he is sticking to his usual schedule and not doing anything out of the ordinary to get ready.
“I just have good naps,” he says.
When we speak, on a blurry Zoom call from Morocco, the sun is shining on Mahamed’s face. Continuing his training in the Atlas mountains, his plan is to arrive a few days before his event, which will be held on 10 August.
The town of Ifrane is where Mahamed chose to prepare for the London Marathon in April. Being there meant that he could train at night during Ramadan and reach peak condition in time for the race. The plan worked. A personal best time of 2:07:05 secured him both fourth place and a spot on the Olympic team, alongside fellow runners Emile Cairess and Philip Sesemann.
“Leading up to the London Marathon I was fasting, so I chose to train here. The centre is lit at night so I could sleep during the day, and in the night time I was training,” he says. “My faith is really important and it’s something I take very seriously. Fasting is the most challenging during running periods, but I’m happy to do more work.”
Mahamed describes qualifying for the Olympics in his second-ever marathon as “one of the top achievements” of his life.
“I never imagined to be in the running for Team GB. It’s a dream come true,” he says.
Born in Jarso, Ethiopia, Mahamed grew up in a farming family and spent much of his childhood on his parents’ land. Over the years, Ethiopia has produced some legendary long-distance runners — Abebe Bikila famously won his first gold medal in the marathon running barefoot at the 1960 Olympics, and in 2003 Tirunesh Dibaba became the youngest female world champion in the history of athletics, coming first in the 5,000 metres at just 18. But it was only when Mahamed came to England that he took up the sport competitively.
“In Ethiopia there’s a certain area that focuses on athletics but, where I was, there wasn’t really an awareness,” he says. “Before I moved to the UK I didn’t know any sports. I only started running as a sport when I was there.”
The family, including Mahamed’s three brothers, moved to Southampton when he was 12 — a world away from the rural expanse he grew up in.
“It’s very different, but it’s my second home now,” he says.
At school, Mahamed excelled at PE and was encouraged by his teachers to pursue athletics more seriously, but running also provided other opportunities.
“I started running when I was at school, trying to do different types of sport, like football, rugby, everything,” he says. “I was doing everything I could just to fit into the community of the school. One day my PE teacher told me during sports day, ‘You’re good at running, you should go and join a club.’ So I did.
“Because English is my second language, I felt that athletics made me feel part of the community, having fun with other guys. When I joined the club I was just making friends in our community, having that social environment. Obviously it’s challenging learning a new language, but at the end of the day I was learning things from other people, making new friends and trying to keep myself fit as well.”
When London hosted the Olympic Games in 2012, Mahamed was a teenager and still new to the world of athletics, but he was inspired by athletes such as Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Kenenisa Bekele.
He went on to become England cross-country champion in 2019 and 2022. Securing a sponsorship deal from Puma in 2023 — the same year he graduated with an MSc in sports coaching and development from Southampton Solent University — allowed him to dedicate all his time to his sport.
Now, Mahamed’s idol, Farah, will regularly give him a call whenever he needs support.
The 2024 Olympic men’s marathon route will follow the streets of Paris through to Versailles, a challenging course with a climb and descent of more than 400m. Mahamed, however, is both calm and humble about his first appearance at the games.
“I try to focus as much as I can,” he says. “Right now, I do my run in the early morning. Then, during the day, I try to sleep and recover as much as I can before going for a second set of training. I don’t do anything that special.”
Topics
Get the Hyphen weekly
Subscribe to Hyphen’s weekly round-up for insightful reportage, commentary and the latest arts and lifestyle coverage, from across the UK and Europe
This form may not be visible due to adblockers, or JavaScript not being enabled.