“If a mule grazes with horses, it thinks that it is also a horse.”
— Somali proverb

While Belgian runner Bashir Abdi is no mule, he may not be the thoroughbred that Mo Farah is — but, apparently, he thinks he is. Abdi will attempt to set a new 10,000-metre European record at the Van Damme Memorial on September 8 during the 46th running of the Diamond League meet in Brussels.

Farah and Abdi are both Somali-born Europeans.

Abdi will attempt to better 26:46.57 at the King Baudouin Stadium to break the record currently held by Great Britain’s Farah, which was set in 2011 at Hayward Field in Eugene, OR. Farah ran his last race in April during the 2023 London Marathon.

He tweeted, “The end of a wonderful career, Thank you for all those goosebumps moments, to make me and the whole world dream @Mo_Farah Forever legend.”

The 34-year-old Abdi’s best is from 2021 when he ran 27:24.41 at the Birmingham University Athletics Track. It will be a big ask. The near 30-second improvement on the four-time Belgian record holder’s best time will require a monumental effort, the best supershoes and whatever else he has in his arsenal.

Moroccan Mohammed Mourhit has held the Belgian record since 1999 when he ran 26:52.30 in Brussels.

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