On a chilly Saturday afternoon in London, Ont., Canadian distance star Moh Ahmed added a lacking line to his working resume: senior nationwide cross-country champion. The 2020 Olympic silver medallist dominated the open males’s 10K to safe the primary senior Canadian XC title of his profession.
Saturday marked Ahmed’s first look on the championships since 2012, when a 21-year-old Ahmed completed second to now-marathon file holder Cam Levin. “It felt good to be again competing at dwelling,” Ahmed stated after the race. “This can be a brief journey for me, and it’s at all times nice to compete on Canadian soil.”
Though he entered because the heavy favorite, Ahmed sat patiently within the pack till the ultimate of 4 laps. When he made his transfer, the race was over rapidly, surging away within the remaining kilometre. Ahmed ended up profitable by 16 seconds and secured his spot on Workforce Canada for the 2026 World XC Championships in Tallahassee, Fla., on Jan. 10.
Twenty-year-old Xavier Perras-Phaneuf completed second in 29:46, with 24-year-old Santiago Gaitan shut behind in third at 29:48. In Tallahassee, Ahmed won’t solely be a contender, but additionally a mentor; he’ll be the oldest member of the Canadian males’s workforce by eight years.
Ceili McCabe throws down a dominant efficiency
After lacking the summer season season with harm, Vancouver’s Ceili McCabe returned in dominant style to win the ladies’s 10K in 32:57.
McCabe took management of the race from the gun and by no means regarded again, cruising to her second nationwide XC crown in three years. She separated early and in the end gained by 56 seconds over Hamilton’s Chloe Thomaswith Penn State College standout Florence Caron Of l. a. malbaie, que., ending attempt in 33:5
In a post-race interview with Canadian WorkingMcCabe stated her purpose was merely to “run sturdy.” The 24-year-old, who simply wrapped up her NCAA profession at West Virginia College, acknowledged the 10K distance nonetheless feels new to her, however her win at this time was extra about getting in a tough effort (on the distance) forward of World XC.
Regardless of graduating from the NCAA system, McCabe stays coached by her collegiate mentor Sean Cleary in Morgantown, W.Va. She’s going to now headline a younger, rising Canadian girls’s squad in Florida as they give the impression of being to enhance on their eighth-place end on the 2024 World XC Championships in Serbia.
For full outcomes from the 2025 Canadian XC Championships, see right here.
