MO FARAH became just the second man to win both long distance titles at two separate Olympic Games after adding 5000m gold to his 10,000m success from Saturday (August 20).
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The last man to win both distance races in consecutive Olympics was Finnish great Lasse Viren at the 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal Games.
Chelimo, who was born in Kenya but lives in OR, finished second in the men’s 5,000-meter race Saturday behind Mo Farah.
“Oh my God I can’t believe it!” said Farah. “My legs were a bit exhausted after the 10k I don’t now how I recovered”, he told reporters. People were bringing me food in my hotel room, but it is every athletes dream.
He said: “I just want to go home now and see my attractive kids and I just want to hang the medals around their necks”.
And confirmation came through when China had only one athlete left in competition, meaning even if they win gold in the men’s mountain bike cross country, GB’s superior haul of silver medals ensures their supremacy. I thought it was going to be a slow race and they went out quite hard. “They had a plan, they wanted to take the sting out of me but when I hit the front, I wasn’t letting anyone past”, he said.
Having also done the double twice at the world championships, Farah proved he is up there with the best endurance performers of all time.
For a country the size of Britain to finish second to the United States of America in the medals table – our highest ever position – and above China was, he added, ‘nothing short of extraordinary. “What we’re doing now is good, we’re doing blood, urine, whatever it takes, it’s a good thing”.
“Hussein, I got him this medal – and that’s what drives me”.
In the men’s 4x400m relay, meanwhile, the gold went to the usa in a time of 2:57.30 seconds, with Jamaica in second and the Bahamas taking the bronze.
Earlier on Saturday, Leeds boxer Nicola Adams celebrated retaining her crown in the flyweight – the first British fighter to retain an Olympic title in 92 years.
“The gold rush continues”. I don’t know how I recovered. “It is well up there (compared with London)”. It’s never easy to run a race and run against a team.
In the latter sport, GB managed a clean sweep of medals, with gold won by the City of London Police, silver by Liverpool Police and bronze by the Metropolitan Police “K” Division.
The 33-year-old from Leeds emulated Harry Mallin, who won back-to-back gold medals in 1920 and 1924.
On a sparkling final night of athletics, Matthew Centrowitz won a shock 1,500m gold for the United States, their first in the event since 1908.
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Neymar took the last penalty against the Germans, easily converting it after the match ended 1-1 after extra time at the Maracana stadium. Eilidh Doyle, Anyika Anoura, Emily Diamond and Christine Ohuruogu followed in the footsteps of their 4x100m counterparts, who claimed a bronze medal earlier this week.
