MO CAN STILL MATCH BOLT’S MAGNIFICENT 7

SIR MO FARAH last night stayed on course to match Usain Bolt’s record of seven individual world titles.

The British star reigned in the rain as he controlled his 5,000metres heat to easily qualify for Saturday’s final in a time of 13mins 30.18secs.

Five days after his stunning 10,000m triumph, Farah admitted he found it difficult to raise a gallop in the awful conditions. But it didn’t show as he breezed across the finish line a split-second behind Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelen.

“It’s difficult to motivate yourself after a win like that,” conceded a man who has won the last 10 global championships over the two long distances.

“The 10k did take it out of me. I was a bit beaten up and I came into this a bit tired,” he added. “But you aren’t going to win unless you recover, get rest, turn the lights off and prepare all you can.”

This is Farah’s farewell track championship and he is desperate to avoid the fate which befell the “unbeatable” Usain Bolt in his swansong.

He is an even stronger favourite than Bolt was in the 100m, having won the last three World Championship 5,000m in Daegu, Moscow and Beijing.

But the shock success of Justin Gatlin is a reminder to him that he can take nothing for granted at the weekend.

“It ain’t easy,” he said. “We’ve seen it with Usain Bolt. It happens. No one’s going to give it to you, no matter who you are – even Bolt. I have to focus.”

Farah (below) – tripped in both Olympic 5,000m heats in London and Rio – wisely kept out of trouble before moving to the front to close the deal and join team-mate Andrew Butchart in the final.

“It would be amazing to win one more time,” he said. “But these boys are coming for me.”