And the 21-year-old City of Derby swimmer smashed his own world record to do so, winning in 57.13 seconds to finish more than 1.5secs clear of the field. “I’ve got a lot of respect for everyone in the circuit, it’s a small circuit, and everyone knows each other”.
Advertisement
Farah, as a 17-year-old who had made west London his home after arriving as a refugee from Somalia, had a poster on his bedroom wall of one of the great Olympic races when Haile Gebrselassie outsprinted Paul Tergat to win 10,000m gold at Sydney 2000. I just had to be alert.
Having also done the double twice at the world championships, Farah proved he is up there with the best endurance performers of all time.
It was the medal that saw Team GB officially surpass their London 2012 haul, with the 66th overall also a seventh for the athletics team – the target set by UK Sport for Rio 2016.
The first question to Farah was actually how he describes his relationship with Salazar, given he appears to have had a more hands-off approach in Rio – only briefly talking with Farah after his 10,000m last Saturday.
“If you finished fourth and somebody stepped on the line once and got no advantage and you finish fourth, do you really want to say “gosh, I won the bronze medal because a guy cheated”, Bernard Lagat was briefly promoted to third in the men’s 5000m following Chelimo’s disqualification, but the veteran was happy for the bronze medal to be taken from him. But for Neymar and Brazil, well, let’s just say all that glitters is indeed gold and while the Games may be ending, the celebrations in Brazil over the country’s first Olympic gold medal in soccer may continue for some time. “I just got involved with the race with five laps to go”.
“I do miss my kids six months of the year”, said Farah, who has dedicated his two Rio golds to eldest daughter Rhianna and son Hussein.
She anchored the women’s 4x400m team to the gold after she had helped the 4x100m relay team to the gold on the second leg, earlier.
“All my training for four years, I thought in one moment it’s gone”, he reflected.
“I’m now the most accomplished British amateur boxer we’ve ever had, of all time, so it’s a nice title to have”, said Adams, 33.
I enjoyed watching Andrew Butchart, who came sixth in the 5,000m.
“It’s every athlete’s dream, but I can’t believe it”, Farah told reporters.
The 32-year-old now has a medal of each colour, after winning silver with team mate Jon Schofield in the K2 200m, and a bronze in the same class from London 2012.
In a big surprise, Kenya – which had won medals in the 5,000-meter in the past three Olympics – did not qualify any runners for the final.
“Our athletes have become role models for millions of young people back home and I’m sure have inspired the next generation of British Olympians”.
Advertisement
“[In] 2017, I’d like to end it on the track, and then we’ll see what we can do in the marathon”, he said, according to the BBC.
