[5] Hrezi was born and raised in the United States; he qualified to compete for Libya through dual citizenship.

[6] After high school, he was a successful distance runner at Iowa State University, and ran 28:51.88 in the men's 10,000 meters at the 2014 Stanford Invitational, finishing in 20th place in a deep field.

[7] After graduating from Iowa State, Hrezi joined the Hansons Brooks racing team from Rochester, Michigan, where he began marathon training.

He fulfilled the Olympic standard for the men's marathon at the 2016 Ottawa Race Weekend, finishing seventh in a time of 2:18:40.

[9] Ramadan started shortly after his breakthrough at Ottawa, and Hrezi fasted while running 100 miles per week in preparation for the Olympics.