# Jama Aden (Jaamac Aadan)

> Jama Aden (b.1962): Somali Olympian and coach of world and Olympic middle-distance champions.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/jama-aden/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is he?

Jama Mohamed Aden is a Somali former middle-distance runner and coach, born on 28 August 1962 in [Ainabo](/en/regions/caynabo/) ([Wikipedia, Jama Aden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). He is the older brother of the runner [Ibrahim Mohamed Aden](/en/people/ibrahim-mohamed-aden/) (same source).

## Runner

On an athletic scholarship at Fairleigh Dickinson University he set several school records, including a 3:56.82 mile, coached by the double Olympic champion Mal Whitfield ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). He ran the 800 m and 1500 m for Somalia at the 1983 World Championships and the 1500 m at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, without reaching a final (same source).

## Coach

After a master's in exercise physiology at George Mason University, he assisted John Cook in coaching [Abdi Bile](/en/people/abdi-bile/) before Bile's 1987 world title ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). Athletes he has coached include Abubaker Kaki, [Ismail Ahmed](/en/businesses/worldremit/) Ismail, Taoufik Makhloufi (2012 Olympic 1500 m champion), Hamza Driouch, Ayanleh Souleiman and Genzebe Dibaba (same source). In 2011 he won the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Sports Excellence (same source).

## Doping case

In 2015 two athletes he had coached, Laila Traby and Hamza Driouch, were suspended for doping violations; Driouch's ban related to a biological passport reading from the 2012 Olympics ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Aden)). In June 2016 Aden was arrested in Spain after police raided his hotel room and found performance-enhancing substances (same source). After a long legal process he was acquitted of the charges in November 2022 (same source).

## In short

A Somali Olympian who went on to coach Olympic and world champions in middle-distance running.

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