“I hope it doesn’t become third time bad luck”, Farah said after he qualified second from his heat for Saturday’s final.
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Should Farah, 32, win the 5,000m on Saturday he would be the first athlete to win the two world distance titles either side of an Olympic double.
To gasps from the Bird’s Nest crowd in Beijing, Farah relaunched himself to finish second behind Ethiopian victor Yomif Kejelcha, the world’s fastest performer in 2015, who timed 13min 19.38sec in the hot morning Sunday .
Britain’s Mo Farah regained his balance after stumbling and nearly falling to the track in Wednesday’s heats at the world athletics championships to book his spot in the final of the men’s 5,000 metres.
The two-time Olympic champion said: “I almost went down – again”.
Speaking after the race, Farah told BBC Sport: “I’m lucky I stayed up”.
It left him with a small cut which he said would not trouble him and, in what was the quicker of the two semi-finals by almost half a minute, he insisted he was confident of finishing among the five fastest losers even if he had hit the deck. It’s reality. At some time in my career, when I get older, I won’t be able to do what I am doing.
The 32-year-old was touched on the back by Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed but just about managed to stay on his feet. I would have gone flat on my face.
That anecdote brought a smile but, when Farah was also asked whether he thought the public took him for granted, he became serious. Although he warned: “You might be the favourite but when you line up anything can happen and that’s one thing I shouldn’t take for granted”. Farah also revealed he had kept his own focus during a turbulent period of his life by concentrating on training.
He will be joined in Saturday’s final by Tom Farrell after he came home fourth in 13:45.29, and Farah believes he is in good shape for the showpiece. And his expectation is that the Kenyans will once again work to upset him come the final.
Other finals on Wednesday include the women’s pole vault, 400m hurdles and 3,000m steeplechase, as well as the men’s javelin.
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Much-decorated Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown could push for a golden swansong, although countrywoman Elaine Thompson, Nigeria’s Commonwealth Games champion Blessing Okagbare and Dutch 100m silver medallist Dafne Schippers are expected to shine.
