From St. Catharines Standard:

By Bernie Puchalski, St. Catharines Standard, Monday, January 14, 2013 9:34:04 EST PM

Mohammed Ahmed’s first Olympic experience has left him wanting more.

“It made me want to look at the big picture,” said the 22-year-old St. Catharines resident, who was back in the city for about two weeks before returning to the University of Wisconsin Monday. “I want to go back there in 2016 and I want to medal. I had no expectations for this one.”

At the London Olympics, the St. Catharines Collegiate graduate placed 18th in the 10,000 metres.

“I just wanted to go out there and see how it is and feel out the environment. The Olympics have given me the motivation that I made an Olympic team and I need to go and try and better myself as an individual every day in training.”

The medalists at the Olympics were several years older than Ahmed and he is early on in his running career.

“I’ll be 25 in 2016 and I’m really excited about those Olympics.”

Ahmed is coming off a fall where the scholarship runner placed eighth at the NCAA cross country championships to earn his fourth straight All-American honours. He also placed second at the Canadian senior championships.

More…