Ali Idow Hassan

Somali athlete

800 metres – 1:46.40 (Douala 2024)
1500 metres – 3:40.20 (Dubai 2024)

Ali Idow Hassan (Arabic: علي إيدو حسين born 1 July 1998) is a Somali middle distance runner who has competed at multiple Olympic Games.

Career

He was selected to compete at the 2020 Summer Games in the men's 1500 metres.^[1]^[2] He was granted an audience with then Somali president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed at the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu along with the Minister of Youth and Sports of the Federal Government of Somalia, Hamse Said Hamse, prior to the event.^[3]

He was given the honour of being a flag bearer for his nation in the Olympics opening ceremony.^[4] He ran a personal best in the 1500m in Tokyo, as he finished tenth in his heat in a time of 3.43:96.^[5]

He competed in the 800m at the 2022 African Championships and ran a personal best time of 1:49.03 as he qualified from his heat into the semi-finals, where he was tenth fastest in a time of 1:49.24.^[6]

He was the only athlete from his nation, in any sport, to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics. He was ultimately eliminated in the Men's 800 metres as a result of not starting, ultimately missing his chance at an Olympic medal.

References

^ "HASSAN Ali Idow". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^ "Somalia Sends First Non-runner to Tokyo Olympics". voanews.com.
^ "Farmajo receives Olympic athlete at the Presidential Palace". Somalidispatch.com.
^ "Athletics flag bearers help to light up Olympic Opening Ceremony in Tokyo | FEATURES | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
^ "Ali Idow finishes 10th in 1st round of 1500m". hiiraan.com.
^ "Results". maa.mu. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2022.