RIO DE JANEIRO – To call former Wisconsin standout Mohammed Ahmed's Saturday night a roller coaster would be an understatement.
 
Ahmed was the fifth runner to cross the line in the 5000 meters at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 13 minutes, 5.94 seconds.
 
However, minutes after the finish, Ahmed, along with Team USA's Paul Chelimo and Ethiopia's Muktar Edris, were all disqualified for running on the inside of the rail. Chelimo had finished second, winning the United States' first medal in the event since 1964, while Edris was fourth.
 
An hour after the disqualification was announced by the IAAF Jury of Appeals, Ahmed and Chelimo were both reinstated thanks to appeals by their respective countries, while Edris was not, giving Ahmed a fourth-place showing. It marked Canada's best placing ever in the event at the Olympic level.
 
"I don't know what happened," Ahmed said. "This is the best finish I've ever had a major championship, but I've had better races. I've been racing for Canada since I was 16, I've finished fourth at world juniors, I was ninth a couple years back in the 10,000 meters at the world championships, it has been a steady improvement.
 
"My 13:01 really showed that I belong, and tonight I showed that I am one of the best 5000 meters guys in the world."
 
"That was a fantastic performance by Mo," UW Director of Track and Field Mick Byrne said. "He showed no signs of fatigue from last week's 10,000 meters and kept himself in striking distance the last 1000 meters. That was a real fast 5000 meters and Mo read the race perfectly. We are all very proud of him."
 
The Canadian record holder in the 5000 meters, Ahmed began the race towards the back of the 16-man field, along with eventual race winner Mo Farah, who won his second-straight Olympic gold medal in the event.
 
About halfway through the race, Ahmed made his way towards the middle of the pack, where there was a lot of contact between the runners who were all jostling for position.
 
Ahmed started to make his move with three laps to go, as he moved into the top eight.
 
The St. Catharines, Ontario, native picked off a couple of runners to move into fifth with 400 meters left as the race turned into a full-out sprint to the finish.
 
Ahmed battled for fourth before settling into fifth behind Farah, Chelimo, Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet and Edris.
It was the third race for Ahmed in the week, as he finished 32nd in the 10,000 meters last Saturday, before finishing sixth in his 5000 meters qualifying section.
 
Ahmed became the third Badger to net a top-10 finish in track and field at the 2016 Summer Olympics, as Evan Jager was second in the steeplechase on Wednesday, while Zach Ziemek placed seventh in the decathlon on Thursday. In addition, former UW women's track and field standout Gwen Jorgensen won gold in the women's triathlon on Saturday during the penultimate day of the games.