“It shows I didn’t just fluke it in London”, added Farah, Britain’s most successful Olympic track and field athlete of all time.
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“I can’t believe it”, said Farah. “I can’t believe I did it and it means so much to me”. “My legs were a bit exhausted after the 10k, I don’t now how I recovered”, he told reporters.
With the Games ending on Sunday, there are still chances for Great Britain to win more medals, with Londoner Joe Joyce through to the super-heavyweight final.
Farah, who trains in OR under ex-marathon great Alberto Salazar, said watching Ethiopian distance legend Kenenisa Bekele medalling had been an inspiration.
“I did it again here and it’s been incredible”.
“When you see them cry, when you see them not eating as well, being a father and having four kids is not easy and seeing my wife struggle, that’s the hard part”. He was initially disqualified but quickly reinstated. Britain claimed bronze in 3:25.88.
Dejen Gebremeksel, the Ethiopian silver medallist behind Farah in London four years ago, and Gebrhiwet set out on a fast pace, Farah sat at the end of the strung-out field at the Olympic Stadium in ideal conditions.
However, by the halfway point they seemed to have given up on that approach and Farah moved to the front to push the pace. I wasn’t going to let anyone past me and at the end you saw my speed. But instead of a slow and tactical affair, Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel took the group through the first kilometre in 2:37.40 with Farah in eighth.
Farah went through the bell head-to-head with Gebrewihet, who punched down the back straight.
On Wednesday, in his 5,000-meter heat, Farah tripped again when he collided with Hassan Mead of the United States with about 150 meters left to go in the race.
“I’m going to take a holiday, come back and then decide what’s next”, the Guardian quoted the 33-year-old said after her victory.
“That’s the only thing that really gets me down or makes me think twice about what I do, but it’s all worth it”.
“I remember seeing Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat in Sydney and wondering if I could become Olympic champion at the time”, said Farah of the battle between the Ethiopian and the Kenya at the 2000 Olympics, which Gebrselassie won by ninth hundredths of a second.
Farah has now equalled Finland’s Lasse Viren, who too won both titles in 1972 and 1976.
Farah’s 5,000m triumph secured the “double-double” after his successes at London 2012, but his defence of the 10,000m title nearly faltered when he was tripped.
Salazar has faced doping suspicions, but no charges have ever been made Farah has stayed loyal to the Cuban-born coach.
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Farah, who has dedicated each of gold medals to his four children, cites the lure of more time with his family as one of the reasons why he may forgo another Games.
