MADISON, Wis. – For the second time in his illustrious running career, former Wisconsin distance standout Mohammed Ahmed will compete at the Summer Olympics, as Ahmed won 5000 meters at the 2016 Canadian Trials on Thursday night to punch his ticket for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

A native of St. Catharines, Ontario, Ahmed clocked a time of 14 minutes, 0.93 seconds after pulling away from the back down the stretch of the race.

"Mo has consistently improved over the past four years by doing things the right way," UW Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mick Byrne said. "He takes nothing for granted, and I'm very happy for him.

"Making his second Olympic squad is awesome and he knows that all of his Badger fans will be cheering for him in Rio."

A member of UW's men's cross country squad that captured the NCAA title in 2011, Ahmed competed in the 10,000 meters at the 2012 London Olympics, where he finished 18th.

"I said I wanted to be back here and I want to mix it up with the best I don't want to be at the back of the pack anymore," Ahmed told the Toronto Star.

Ahmed set the Canadian record in the 5000 meters earlier this summer with a time of 13:01.74 at the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field. That mark was almost nine seconds faster than his previous Canadian record of 13:10.00 set last year in Brussels.

During his career at Wisconsin, Ahmed was an eight-time, first-team All-American and won five Big Ten individual titles.