Yaseen Abdalla, And the Art of Carrying On

Yaseen Abdalla isn’t the type of person to tell you when he’s hurting.

He’s never been that way. 

“I don’t confide in others,” he says. “I just deal with it.”

There have been moments in his life, however, when he’s emerged from his shell and shown the world just what he’s capable of. Like that day about three and a half years ago in Boston when he stepped to the track 29 days after his father’s sudden death and ran 3,000 meters in seven minutes and 42 seconds. “I think in the moment I didn’t appreciate it,” said Abdalla, who that year ran the 65th-fastest time in the world for the distance, “but I know I channeled it.” 

Maybe also buried deep within that performance was the reveal of Abdalla’s true character: both in how he dealt with grief and used it to come out on the other side. “That’s one of the times in my life when I saw how strong Yaseen had become,” said Dr. Amira Hassan, Abdalla’s mother. 

It’s probably no surprise then that Abdalla, 24, the oldest brother of four (Yousuf, Yahya and Yazeed) to a Sudanese mother, emerged stronger than ever. In 2024, he became an Olympian for Sudan, competing for his parents’ home country in the marathon—a first for him that paid off with a time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 41 seconds. A year later, he ran the distance again and finished 21st overall at the World Championships in Tokyo.

While success didn’t warrant a contract with a major shoe sponsor, Abdalla did not fret. In 2026, he decided to break out on his own, forming a coaching business and a clothing line—the core tenets of what he hopes will develop into foundations that can support his pursuits over the next decade.

“Seeing Yaseen’s growth has been amazing,” said Hassan, who’s supported him through the thick and thin. 

Next up for Abdalla? He’s aiming to break 2:04 at the 2026 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

“I always train like I want to be the best in the world,” Abdalla said.  

The Abdalla family poses for a photo together.

Becoming Yaseen Abdalla

Growing up, Abdalla’s parents were his world.

His late father, Ahmed Abdalla, and his mother, Amira, were the bedrocks of his development. In 2004, when Yaseen was two, Ahmed drove a cab, a city bus and worked at the library to make what he could for his family. When he graduated from the University of Maryland, he secured an engineering job and took his family to Utah. Next came Amira’s turn. 

While Ahmed was taking care of Yaseen and working full-time, Amira moved to California for a brief stint so she could earn her doctorate in Dental Surgery from the University of Southern California. “I remember those years when we would Skype,” Yaseen said. 

By the time the family moved to Austin in 2015—his mother now the owner of three dental practices and his father an established engineer—Yaseen’s worldview was shaped by the indefatigable work ethic of his parents. He took up running as a sophomore and dreamed one day of being best (even though he couldn’t break 6 minutes in the mile). 

Neither of Abdalla’s parents understood his talent until one day, a couple laps into a dual meet, the stadium announcer blurted out: “Second lap, ‘Abdalla!’” Amira remembered. “Third lap, they said again, ‘Abdalla!’ We realized he was getting good.” 

Famously, though, he wasn’t that good. 

Abdalla walked on to The University of Texas in 2019 before winning a Big 12 Conference title over 5,000 meters and then anchoring the Longhorns to an NCAA championship in the distance medley relay in 2022—a first for the program in 14 years.

In 2023, after graduating with a degree in science and technical management from Texas’ McCombs School of Business, he transferred to Tennessee to continue his track career. By December, feeling confident to take a break from his training and work, his family traveled to Cairo, Egypt to celebrate where his parents first met. 

His father died there on New Year’s Eve after a heart attack. 

“It was very difficult, very unfortunate,” said Abdalla, who performed CPR on his father and rode with him to the hospital. 

“But we rallied as a family.” 

Amira Hassan (left) smiles with her son, Yaseen Abdalla, after he represented Sudan at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Reaching The 2024 Paris Olympics

In 2024, no one was thinking about the marathon. Yaseen, in fact, had never even run the distance anytime in his life. But Amira’s brother reached out to the Sudanese Olympic Committee, and it turns out Abdalla was the perfect candidate for the country’s universality spot.

“They said, ‘Oh, we would love to have him,’” Amira remembers. 

She went to Paris with Abdalla and cheered him on the final miles down the Esplanade des Invalides when he finished 33rd overall. It was a little less than two years to the day of his father’s death, and perhaps a moment of deep emotional resonance.

“I was so happy for him,” she said. 

After earning his master’s at Tennessee, Abdalla ran one additional year at Arkansas, scoring personal best times of 3:55.21 for the mile, 7:34.17 for 3,000-meters and 13:09.99 for 5,000 meters. The performances ranked him No. 112, No. 10 and No. 21 in the world for those distances.

They also proved to him that if he was willing to work harder than anyone else, he could compete on any stage. So, he wasn’t ready to call it quits. 

But Abdalla may have felt like the world was counting him out. 

Bandit Running, the cult running brand based out of New York City, featured him in a documentary as he chased after an NCAA record mile time of 3:50. 

While he didn’t reach it, it didn’t quite matter. A jury of fans elsewhere were sold: “This is why Yaseen is the goat for me,” said one commenter. “Never ducks a challenge.” 

At the end of the year, Abdalla suited up again in the marathon and clocked a time of 2:13, finishing 21st overall. 

Yaseen Abdalla Looks Ahead 

All of this, of course, has been discussed and broken down exhaustively on Abdalla’s YouTube page, which he uses to outline his goals and ambitions. 

He has 22,000 subscribers. His videos are deep, thoughtful and often introspective insights about his life, both as a runner and as someone who’s trying to build a business entirely new from scratch.

In his most recent video, “Can I Run A 2:03 Marathon,” he talks about Ray Dalio’s system in business—Dalio is the founder of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates. “Life is metrics,” Abdalla said. “And I’m big on the belief that God talks to us through the metrics.” 

Abdalla named his clothing company Kairos, which in Greek means “the exact or critical time.” Everything for Abdalla, it seems, has a purpose. Like Chicago and his goal of breaking 2:04. It’s the kind of goal that seems outrageous, until you spend any time with Abdalla, who likes shooting for the moon. “Where I see my future in the marathon is running some of the fastest times ever,” he says. Running is a big part of his purpose, whether he wins or loses. 

So is his family, which has continued to be there for him even as they’ve all experienced tragedy. Take most Thursdays, for instance. Hassan grabs a giant bike out of the garage, hooks it into her car and drives down to Lady Bird Lake. 

There, she’ll usually bike seven miles with her son on the trail. It’s a reminder of the deep relationship she has with him. It’s a way to stay close. About a year ago, Abdalla moved out of the house. 

In Islamic culture, Amira said, the son stays with the family until he gets married. But Abdalla couldn’t stay home any longer. He needed to spread his wings. He needed to find his meaning in this world. 

“When he moved out, I was so sad,” she said. “I didn’t say anything. I cried all night for a whole week.”

But soon, on those Thursday bike rides, as she spoke with her son about his beliefs and dreams and goals, she began to understand that he needed to do this. He needed these mornings on the trail. 

That’s how he channeled his life. Often, a long run was a perfect destination. And Chicago is his next big plan. 

“Now, I realize it’s better,” Amira said. “He has his independence.”