Bashir Abdi

Who is he?

Bashir Abdi is a Belgian long-distance runner born on 10 February 1989 (Wikipedia, Bashir Abdi). He is the European record holder in the marathon (same source). This page covers his public sporting life.

From Somalia to Ghent

Wikipedia gives his birthplace as El Afweyn (Wikipedia). Some Belgian press give Mogadishu. When he was eight, his family moved to Djibouti (same source). After time in Ethiopia, he joined his mother in Belgium, where she had been recognised as a refugee (same source). At 16 he started training at Racing Club Gent, following his brother (same source). See Somalis in Djibouti.

Track years

He ran the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics (Wikipedia). In 2018 he won silver in the 10,000 metres at the European Championships (same source). In 2020 he ran with Mo Farah in Brussels and set a European record for 20,000 metres (same source).

The marathon

He ran his first marathon in Rotterdam in 2018 (Wikipedia). In 2020 he was second in Tokyo in 2:04:49 (same source). On 24 October 2021 he ran 2:03:36 in Rotterdam, a European record (same source). He won Olympic bronze at the Tokyo Games and bronze at the 2022 World Championships (same source). That made him Belgium's first world championship marathon medallist (same source).

Paris 2024

At the Paris Olympics he took silver in 2:06:47, behind Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola (World Athletics, Paris 2024 men's marathon report). He had recently recovered from a stress fracture of the hip (same source). He called it "the hardest marathon course I've ever run" (same source).

Off the track

He co-founded Sportaround, which runs after-school sport for children in Ghent (Wikipedia). With Ghent University Hospital he set up a fund to support health workers (same source). Ghent University gave him an honorary doctorate for his sport and social work (same source). See sport in Somalia.

In short

A marathon runner of Somali birth who won Olympic bronze for Belgium in 2021.