Abdi Abdirahman

Sport: Track and Field

Nation: United States of America

DOB: January 1, 1977

Hometown: Tucson, AZ

Career Highlights: A native of Mogadishu, Somalia, Abdirahman attended community college in Arizona and was a two-time state junior college champion. That success took him to the University of Arizona, where he won three NCAA titles - two in the 5,000m and one in the 10,000m, the latter of which became his specialty. Abdirhman is a four-time US champion in the 10,000m and two-time runner up, but he never parlayed that success into Olympic glory, finishing 10th in the 10,000m in Sydney, 15th in 2004 in Athens and 15th again in 2008 in Beijing. He began seriously running marathons when he finished 14th in the 2004 New York City event, eventually finishing as high as fifth a year later. Now 35, Abdirahman has reinvented himself as a distance runner after a hip injury that ended his chances of qualifying in the marathon four years ago and a stress fracture in his femur in 2010. The injury hasn't slowed him down, though. Abdirahman will be back in his fourth Summer Games after placing third in the Olympic marathon trials.

Olympic History: 2008,2004,2000