The 33-year-old confirmed his intentions after winning his fourth medal on Sunday (NZ time), completing the “double-double” of 5000m and 10,000m glory in back-to-back Olympics at London 2012 and Rio 2016.
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Farah won the race in 13 minutes, 3.30 seconds ahead of Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia and Bernard Lagat of the United States.
“This medal is for my son Hussein”, Farah said. I just had to be alert.
He dedicated his two Olympic golds from London 2012 to his twin daughters Aisha and Amani, who were born shortly after those successes, and said his 10,000m gong in Rio was for his oldest daughter Rhianna. “I did it in London and that was incredible and now four years later to do it again, there’s no words”.
“It’s every athlete’s dream, but I can’t believe it”, Farah told reporters.
With an overall medal haul of 67, Team GB 2016 became the first team in history to increase their medals count four years after hosting the Olympics.
Three competitors, including second-place finisher Chelimo, were initially disqualified.
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 flawless conditions.
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.
Eilidh Doyle, Anyika Onuora, Emily Diamond and Christine Ohuruogu in the women’s 4×400 relay pushed Great Britain to 66, winning a bronze medal moments after Farah’s victory.
“You ask what more can I do?”
But Farah insisted the result was never in doubt.
“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.
“There was only one to go and that’s what motivated me”, he said. If you have dreams they can come true and I always wanted to achieve these for my kids because for so much of the year you don’t see them.
She added that her teammates were her inspiration, saying: “We’ve got some really good athletes in Britain and it has just showed in this Olympics this time round”.
Great Britain’s Mo Farah has revealed that he is planning to end his track career after next year’s World Championships on home soil in London.
“I want to keep running”, said Farah. I owe it to the people, the public.
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“I’m done! Oops, hope my wife didn’t hear that!”
