Britain’s Mo Farah completed a historic Olympic distance double-double with victory in the 5,000m in rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
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Victory made him the first British track and field athlete in history to win four Olympic gold medals. “Hussein got this medal and that’s what drives me, Rhianna’s got a medal, Aisha and Amani got their medal”. I just had to be alert. I just want to see my four kids and hang these medals around their necks.
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.
“It means so much to me, I can’t believe I did it”, said Farah.
Farah already won the 10,000-meter race in Rio to go along with his two gold medals from the same events in London four years ago. This news story is related to Print/144283-Winning-never-gets-old-Farah/ – breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne.
Team GB’s success sparked fury in China which was pipped to second place on the medal table.
Mo Farah has won gold in the 5,000m in Rio, successfully defending his Olympic title and adding to his 10,000m gold.
“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 admitted his latest success was down to years of hard work and focus and he hopes to race back in London next year, before turning his attention to more road races.
With the Games ending on Sunday, there are still chances for Great Britain to win more medals this weekend, with Londoner Joe Joyce through to the super-heavyweight final.
“It was fantastic to race with such great athletes”, Semenya said after setting a national record time of one minute 55.28 seconds.
Semenya, the London 2012 silver medalist, has had to suffer aspersions around her gender in recent years.
The other big victor Saturday was Spain’s veteran high jumper Ruth Beitia, who scored the biggest win of her 20-year career with a gold.
He added: “You’ve got to do your homework [on your opponents]”. You saw me sat at the back, but it wasn’t an easy last five lap burnout.
It’s the first time since 1896 when the modern Olympic era began that a country has increased its medal tally at the summer Games after one that it hosted.
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In one of the feel-good stories of the Games, Caster Semenya got the gold medal she so desired in the women’s 800, giving her closure after a post-London knee injury had sidelined her for nearly a year as the story around her gender identity persisted.
