Farah has not got a major world record to his name, despite his eight global track titles, and the likes of 5,000m and 10,000m world record holder Kenenisa Bekele has indicated he can not be considered an all-time great until he does.
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“What was going through my mind was my daughter, I promised her I was going to get her a medal, so I wasn’t going to let her down”.
At the ten minute stage, the field was beginning to become more stretched as the pace picked up a little; Demelash sat in second, with Kamworor in fourth and Farah in fifth, surrounded by Muchiri and Tenui.
Kenya’s Paul Kipngetich Tanui won silver with a season-best 27:05.64, while Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won bronze in 27:06.26.
The Olympic and world champion in the 5,000 and 10,000 tripped and fell to the track after tangling with another runner with 15 laps to go.
“Farah is still in good shape and I have no complaints that I lost to him, but I am sure in future he can be beaten”, said Tanui, who shot to the limelight during the 2010 national cross country trials at Uhuru Gardens. We have helped one another in many ways and I don’t fear because we listen to one another despite other things.
And Farah will now look to defend his 5,000m title for the “double-double” when qualifying for that event gets underway on Wednesday.
Farah now tries to follow the path of Viren in becoming only the second man to sweep the 5,000 and 10,000 in consecutive Olympics.
Thomson, who won silver in the 200 in last year’s world championships in Beijing, admitted to being surprised by her victory. But he scraped into the final in 10th place in qualifying and could only jump 8.29 metres in an ill-fated bid to defend his title.
“You can’t imagine how hard you work for it and in one moment it could have gone”.
“I wouldn’t be devastated, but I would love to have another medal for my son. I’m going away disappointed”.
“I feel like I’m in shape to jump far, and it’s frustrating when you come out of something and you don’t feel you’ve done yourself justice”.
“When I crossed the line I just got really emotional”.
Grenada’s Kirani James cruised into Sunday’s 400m final, running a season-best 44.02 seconds, as the London 2012 gold medallist let up well before the finish line.
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In a thrilling Olympic final, the Somali-born British runner even had time to put his hands on top of his head in the trademark “Mobot” sign, as well-known to distance runners as Usain Bolt’s signature pose.
