Thursday, August 18, 2016
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minnesota runner and former Minneapolis South High School and University of Minnesota track star will be allowed to compete in the final of the men’s 5,000-meter race in Rio this Saturday.
Hassan Mead, 26, fell on Wednesday after colliding with other runners during the final lap of his first-round race. Among the other runners in that collision was British favorite Mo Farah.
When Mead fell, he was in the top five, which would have automatically advanced him to the next event. But because of the fall, he didn’t even finish in the top 10.
Mead and his coaching staff appealed to the International Olympic Committee, which was denied, but the jury of appeal announced Wednesday night that, after reviewing new video evidence supplied by Team USA, Mead would be allowed to advance to the final.
Mead and his family moved to Minnesota from Somalia in 2000. He graduated from Minneapolis South in 2007.