He also holds the Belgian records in the half marathon and one hour run, and the world best in the rarely contested 20,000 metres on track.

He then spent a year and a half in Ethiopia, before settling in Belgium, where his mother had initiated a family reunification procedure after having received recognition as a political refugee.

[2] His mother always supported him being an athlete when no one else in his family would and when she died of cancer in 2011, on her last day, she impressed upon her children that as "this country has meant so much to all of you, be good people".

[9] At the Games, Abdi competed in both the men's 5000 m and 10,000 m. He finished 20th in the 10,000 m final, the race won by Great Britain's Mo Farah.

[1] In 2019, he was second at the Big Half Marathon in London with a time of 1:01:16 in a close finish with race winner Mo Farah and third placer Daniel Wanjiru.

Abdi then competed in the London Marathon, placing seventh in a time of 2:07:03 in a race won by Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge in 2:02:37.

In October, Abdi ran in the Chicago Marathon, placing fifth with a time of 2:06:14, the race was won by Kenya's Lawrence Cherono in 2:05:45 in a sprint finish.

[6] The finish of the marathon provided one of the most enduring images of the 2024 Summer Olympics as Abdi's good friend, Dutch athlete and silver medal winner Abdi Nageeye, also of Somali descent, cheered and encouraged his exhausted Belgian training partner to stay with him as they battled for the medals with Kenya's Lawrence Cherono.

[17] In July that year, Abdi won his second consecutive global bronze in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, clocking 2:06:48.

[20] He returned to competition in the Great Manchester Run, his first race since his injury, and set a Belgian record in the 10 km on the road.