[2] Abdulai, a native of Accra, Ghana, attended on a track and field scholarship at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia.

[5] However, she was given another shot for the Olympics by claiming her first-ever national title in the long jump at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ontario.

[7][8] At the 2009 Summer Universiade in Belgrade, Serbia, Abdulai won the bronze medal in the long jump, with her best possible mark of 6.44 metres.

[2] In 2010, Abdulai turned her attention to heptathlon by surprisingly winning her first international-level attempt at Mount Sac Relays in California, with a solid score of 6,086 points.

[10] Abdulai made her official debut for the women's heptathlon at the 2011 IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, along with her teammate Zelinka, who finished behind her at the national trials.