Abdullahi Hassan

Abdullahi Hassan is a Canadian middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 m. Since 2021, he has competed collegiately for the Wisconsin Badgers. He represented Canada at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

High School
Hassan was a standout runner all four years of high school, attending Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in Toronto and competing on the club level for the Phoenix Athletics Association.

2017-18
His grade 9 year, he placed first at the OFSAA Championships in the 800 m and won the Canadian U16 title later that summer. The following year, he placed first at OFSAAs in both the 400 m and 800 m, and clocked a personal best of 1:51.86 in late July.

2019
Competing at 2019 New Balance Indoor Nationals in New York City, Hassan took first place in the 800 m in a time of 1:51.91. At OFSAAs in June, he would once again win the 800 m title and placed second over 400 m, running a personal best of 46.83.

The following month, Hassan made his international debut, representing Canada at the NACAC U18 Championships in Queretaro, Mexico. In the 800 m, Hassan won gold in a time of 1:52.48. Competing as part of Canada's 4 × 400 m mixed relay team, he won a bronze medal.

Still just 17 years old, Hassan competed at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in the senior division. He not only qualified for the final, but placed third behind Marco Arop and Brandon McBride. In the process he set a new Canadian U18 record in a time of 1:47.59.

Wisconsin Badgers
After only competing sparsely in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hassan enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, to compete for the Wisconsin Badgers track and field team.

2021
In his first season of collegiate competition, Hassan qualified for both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, but failed to make the final on both occasions. On July 18, competing at the Sound Running Sunset Tour in Mission Viejo, California, Hassan took first, running a personal best of 1:46.16. The mark was just 0.09 seconds off Brandon McBride's Canadian U20 record of 1:46.09, putting Hassan second on the all-time list.

In August, Hassan competed in the 800 m at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi. After advancing through the first round with a mark of 1:49.09 and through the semi-final with a time of 1:46.89, Hassan competed in the final, placing seventh in 1:50.07.

2022
Competing at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships, Hassan contested the DMR alongside Wisconsin teammates Adam Spencer, David Wenthe, and Jackson Sharp. Together they placed third in a time of 9:25.78.

On May 15, Hassan won his first conference title, winning the 800 m at the Big 10 Outdoor Championships in 1:49.12. In June, At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Hassan once again missed out on the final, placing eighth in his semi-final heat. Later that month, he placed fourth at the Canadian Track and Field Championships, running 1:47.16.

2023
At the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships, Hassan once again competed as part of Wisconsin's DMR team, replicating their performance from the year prior as well, placing third. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Hassan qualified for his first national final, placing fourth in 1:46.30.

Selected to represent Canada at the NACAC U23 Championships in San José, Costa Rica taking place in July, he placed fourth in the 800 m final on July 23. Competing as part of Canada's 4 x 400 team he placed fourth and as part of the mixed 4 x 400, he earned a bronze medal. Just a few days later, Hassan competed at the Canadian Championships in Langley, British Columbia, where he placed second in 1:46.93.

Having been sufficiently high-enough on the world ranking list, Hassan was selected to represent Canada in the 800 m at the World Championships in Budapest. Making his world championship debut, he finished fifth in his first round heat in 1:46.33, less than two-tenths of a second off of his lifetime best, but not enough to advance to the next round. Following the competition, he noted that he "he had never been to a competition like this or a stadium this big" and that fellow Canadian Marco Arop told him to "take in the moment and experience".

2024
Hassan opened his 2024 season with an indoor 800 m personal best of 1:46.61 to take the win at the Badgers Windy City Invite in Chicago, breaking the Wisconsin school record in the process. At the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, he contested just the individual 800 m, qualifying for final and taking eighth place.