Mo Farah’s quest for a historic Olympic “double-double” very almost ended in disaster during the men’s 5,000m heat on Wednesday afternoon. Tripping is looking like the best way to stop him.
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“I got clipped, I just had to stay on my feet”.
Should Farah triumph, it would match the achievement of Finland’s Lasse Viren, who is the only other man to the only man to have won a “double-double” of Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m in 1972 and 1976.
“I’ve got such a long stride, so I find it hard, getting tripped up or tangled up with someone”, said Farah.
Farah admitted he was “surprised” by the size of the field – there were 25 in his heat – and he claimed having three heats rather than two would have been a “safer option”.
Farah benefited from a slow opening half to last weekend’s 10,000m final but says he is anticipating the Ethiopians to make the shorter race a far quicker contest.
He did the bare minimum and no more on Wednesday morning to book his spot in Saturday night’s medal race.
While Farah’s run captured him his third gold, his prayer countered the damaging stereotypes of Muslims held by thousands at the games, and the millions more watching around the world.
“But you look at these guys and they’re ready for me”.
“It was quite nerve-wracking – just getting yourself back in the zone again”. But he brilliantly recovered to accumulate a second 10,000m title to add to the 5,000m gold he also won in London four years ago. “I read du’aa [Islamic prayers or invocations] think about how hard I’ve worked and just go for it”.
“I just have to get myself back in that frame of mind and just get ready”.
“I just have to recover well”, he said.
With the top five runners automatically qualifying from each heat, and the five fastest losers going through to the final as well, Farah found himself third with around 200 metres to go.
The 33-year-old was nearly felled for the second race in succession on the final lap before qualifying as one of the first five finishers ahead of the final on Sunday 21 August.
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Meanwhile, neither Chris Bennett, Mark Dry nor Nick Miller made the hammer final.
