This race didn’t look as easy as the London win, but it was still a gold medal, the third of his career.
Advertisement
Talking about his fall, he said: “When you go down, you get really emotional and I just tried to pick myself back up and believe in myself”.
On the 10th lap, Farah tripped over US runner Galen Rupp, his training partner.
A delighted Mo Farah shows off the spoils of victory after his dramatic win in the 10,000m.
With two laps remaining, Tanui also surged forward to overtake the Ethiopian pack as Farah began to make his move, moving to take the lead for the first time in the race.
Tania Farah, who is in Brazil to support her husband at the games, spoke to the This Morning team to share how she thought it was “all over” for her athlete after he fell over.
Farah has not lost a major race since taking silver in the 10,000m at the 2011 world championships.
Kenya’s Paul Kipngetich Tanui won silver with a season-best 27:05.64, while Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola won bronze in 27:06.26. Mo Farah knows how to win and win with class, sometimes it’s nearly like God says if you’re humble you’ll win, but if not keep losing.
“But all athletes know although records are important the mark of an athlete is ‘can you race when it matters, the Olympic final?’ and Mo is one of the great racers of all time”.
“As each lap went by I was getting more confident”.
Long jumper Jeff Henderson made his own history Saturday night, becoming the 999th U.S. Olympic gold medalist.
“I knew I had something big in me”.
“I got my rhythm back and just thought, “Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, you can get through this”, said a Muslim African immigrant representing the UK.
Should the 33-year-old manage it he would emulate Finnish great Lasse Viren, now the only man to complete the distance “double double”, by retaining the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m titles.
Just 20 minutes earlier, the women’s eight – Katie Greves, Melanie Wilson, Frances Houghton, Polly Swann, Jessica Eddie, Olivia Carnegie-Brown, Karen Bennett, Zoe Lee and cox Zoe de Toledo – won a silver – Team GB’s first ever Olympic medal in the event.
“It feels unbelievable to make history and to be along with Kenenisa and Haile”, he said. But the Oregon Project duo quickly started looking for each other, Farah flashed a thumbs-up, and everything was fine.
Advertisement
Talking about his fall he added: “I wasn’t going to let it go”.
