Farah followed Finland’s Lasse Viren, who won both titles in 1972 and 1976, and having also done the double twice at the world championships, he has now earned his place among the all-time greats of his sport.
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Newham & Essex Beagles’ Mo Farah became just the second man to win both long distance titles at two separate Olympic Games after adding 5,000m gold to his 10,000m success in Rio last night.
Farah added: “Mentally I had to be on top of my game, the guys were out there to get me”.
“I’m so looking forward to seeing my son, who’s already got his teeth through”. I had to be alert. “I did it in London and that was incredible and now four years later to do it again, there’s no words”.
“I’m not looking that far ahead [to 2020], because being away from my kids is hard for me”, he said. “If you look at me, I didn’t win medals until just recently, I’d been coming sixth, seventh”. Paul Chelimo of the United States won the silver, and Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia the bronze.
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.
When asked specifically about the marathon, he said his previous attempts “hadn’t gone well – but I believe that I need to practise and run a couple of key marathons to become successful at it”.
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. They had a plan, they wanted to take the sting out of me, but when I hit the front, I wasn’t letting anyone past me. You saw me sat at the back, but it wasn’t an easy last five lap burnout. “Mo, you are a treasure, you are more than a national treasure, you are the greatest we have ever had and one of the greatest distance runners we have ever seen”.
“I want to continue to 2017 on the track and then go on to the road”.
A DAY after writing another chapter in his fantastic life story with a victory in the 5,000 metres that brought him a fourth Olympic medal, Mo Farah confirmed yesterday he would end his track career at the world championships in London next year before turning his attentions to the road. “I feel proud and want to spend time with them, give them a hug”.
Speaking shortly after the surprise flop, Daley said: “I guess I’m kind of in shock right now because I know that I could win that gold medal and am probably the only one who could challenge the Chinese for that gold”.
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After a while it gets hard to keep up with the list of Farah’s achievements – probably as hard as it is to keep pace with his trademark kick that once again did the damage in Rio.
