The College of Letters & Science will be represented at the London Olympics, starting this weekend.
Mohammed Ahmed, a junior majoring in political science, will compete for Canada in the men's 10,000 meters on Saturday. The race, which also features former Badgers distance star Matt Tegenkamp, is at 3:15 p.m. Central time and will be shown live on NBC.
Ahmed will also be competing against two-time defending Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, the world record holder.
The Somalian-born Ahmed, whose family moved to Canada when he was 11, qualified for the Games with a qualifying time of 27 minutes, 34.64 seconds - breaking the school and Big Ten records - at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., in April.
On Monday, L&S graduate Hilary (Edmondson) Stellingwerff (BA'04, Journalism and Communication Arts) will compete for Canada in the qualifying round of the women's 1,500 meters. Those races start at 5:45 a.m. Central time, with highlights aired during track and field segments at 9 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on NBC.
Should Stellingwerff advance, the 1,500 semifinals are on Wednesday, with the final two days later on Friday.