Britain’s Mo Farah competes in the final of the 10,000m event, at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, on August 4 © AFP / Glyn KIRK
LONDON, United Kingdom, Aug 5 – Mo Farah’s hopes of winning his third successive world championship distance double could be in jeopardy after requiring medical treatment following Friday’s epic victory in the 10,000m.
The 34-year-old British legend won despite being spiked twice in the final lap — the first saw him almost come to grief and fall into the infield — and which resulted in blood pouring from his left calf.
The Somalia-born runner, who prior to Friday’s victory had racked up two Olympic and world doubles as well as the 2011 5,000m world crown, tried to shrug off the battering he had taken but still curtailed media committments so he could be attended to by medical staff.
“I am hurt, I just have to be strong now and see the doctors,” said Farah.
“I’ve got a few cuts and bruises, perhaps I will need a few stitches, I need to recover and get ready, I’ve got enough days” before the 5000m heats which are on Wednesday and the final on Saturday.
Farah though rejected notions that the spiking was deliberate.
“I’ve got such a long stride I don’t blame anyone,” he said.
“I recalled how I went down in Rio (in the 10,000m after which he got up to win). I got caught twice and I was thinking ‘I can’t go down I can’t go down’.”
– Dig deep –
Britain’s Mo Farah (C) competes in the final of the 10,000m event, at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, on August 4 © AFP / Jewel SAMAD
Farah, whose association with controversial coach Alberto Salazar has been a source of disquiet, admitted the ‘surging’ tactics used by primarily the Kenyan and Ugandan athletes — upping the pace then reducing it so he couldn’t get into his rhythm — had forced him to dig deep.
“It was one of the toughest races in my life,” said Farah.
“The guys gave it to me, it was like ‘how do we beat Mo?’ again.
“You had the Ethiopians, the Kenyans, the Ugandans, they worked as a team together against me.
“I just had to stay strong, I was just thinking that I can’t lose in my home town.”
Farah, who was winning in the same stadium where he won Olympic gold in 2012 and is yet to be beaten there, said his confidence grew having weathered the earlier storm in the race.
“At some point in the middle of the race I didn’t think I was going to lose, but I thought ‘this is tough’,” said Farah.
Farah, who will focus on road racing after he has run in two Diamond League meetings, in Birmingham and Zurich, following the championships, ran to his family — his wife Tania and four children — after he had won and pulled them from the crowd so they could join him on his lap of honour.
“That was a special moment for me,” said Farah.
“I miss spending time with them. To have my family on the track is very special.”
