44-Year-Old Former Refugee Is Oldest Runner on US Olympic Team

At 44, Abdi Abdirahman is the oldest American runner to ever make the U.S. Olympic team. The five-time Olympian says he’s “representing all those middle-aged men… who think they cannot run.” Somalia-born Abdi was a child when his family was forced into refugee camps. They eventually settled in Arizona and Abdirahman become a U.S. citizen. His family did not believe he made the Olympic team until they saw him on television during the 2000 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony.