Britain’s Mo Farah has become only the second man ever in the history to retain both 5,000m and 10,000m Gold medals in Olympics.
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It was Felix’s third medal of these Games following her gold in the 4x100m relay and silver in the 400m.
After retaining the 10,000m title last week, Farah produced an exemplary race to win a second 5km gold in 13min 03.30sec.
“I dreamed of becoming Olympic champion once”, said Farah, who has already achieved the world double-double, at the 2013 and 2015 championships in Moscow and Beijing.
“It’s every athlete’s dream but I can’t believe it”, the 33-year-old Farah said. My legs were a bit exhausted after the 10k – I don’t now how I recovered.
“It shows I didn’t just fluke it in London, to do it again is incredible”.
However, by the halfway point they seemed to have given up on that approach and Farah moved to the front to push the pace.
With Usain Bolt finally moving aside after his triple-triple heroics had dominated the first nine days of action, Farah took centre stage for his double-double to emulate Finland’s Lasse Viren (1972 and 1976).
Farah finished eighth on his marathon debut in London two years ago and will be 37 by the time of the next Games.
Farah had to recover from a fall to win his 10,000m title and also stumbled in the heats of the shorter distance in qualifying for the final.
Farah defended his 5,000-meter Olympic crown in the Estdio Olmpico Joao Havelange to add to his earlier successful defense of the 10,000m title he first won at London 2012.
In a big surprise, Kenya – which had won medals in the 5,000-meter in the past three Olympics – did not qualify any runners for the final.
“At the beginning I felt a bit exhausted but I got going again. So many people have been behind me, so I’m going to line up, no matter – half injured whatever, you will see me on that track”, he told The Independent. I wished for just one medal as a junior.
“I thought of my daughter Rhianna and all the time I have spent away from her – and that is what made me get up and get back”.
The Briton’s latest triumph came courtesy of the sort of blistering final lap that has become his trademark, with the United States’ Paul Chelimo eventually confirmed as the silver medallist after he had been disqualified and then reinstated. “Doing my victory lap, I literally kept screaming to everyone I know, ‘Are you kidding me?'”
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He intends to bow out at the world athletics championships in London next year though did give a hint that if he could master the marathon – “I’m not very good at it” – he may target that for Tokyo 2020 if he can find the motivation.
