MIGHTY MO IS FAR TOO GOOD
MO FARAH insisted he is in the form of his life after completing his Olympic build-up by bringing London to its feet – yet again.
On the track where he so famously won the long distance double in 2012, Britain’s greatest athlete ran the fastest 5,000m anywhere this year.
It brought him victory with a whopping 14 seconds to spare at the Muller Anniversary Games and sent a clear message to his Rio rivals that he is, more than ever, the man to beat.
“This is my best ever form heading into a major championships,” said Farah, who is attempting to become the first British athlete to win three Olympic gold medals.
“I am in good shape and it’s great to win before Rio, I just have to keep my feet on the ground as it’s harder to defend an Olympics than win it first time because people have had four years to work out how to beat you.”
Yesterday’s field, though not the strongest, clearly had no idea. Farah ran away from them in the final quarter of the race, prompting a 40,000 crowd to lift the roof off the new home of West Ham.
On the day Britain’s sprint relay men made the world sit up and take note with the fastest time of the year (37.78secs), Farah’s time of 12:59.29 was his quickest since before London 2012. “I just wanted to go for it,” he added. “It was my daughter Rhianna’s birthday on Friday. I ran it for her.”
Only Lasse Viren can boast the ‘double-double’ that Farah will attempt in Brazil. Not even legends like Emil Zatopek, Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie achieved that.
“These are great moments for Mo,” said watching Brendan Foster. “He’s loving being the star of the show and it gives him warmth in his heart before Rio. He looked brilliant.” What makes it so remarkable is that Farah is only 31st on the alltime 5,000m list in terms of time. Yet as a racer he has no equal.
Nor yesterday did the men’s 4 x 100m relay quartet of James Dasaolu, Adam Gemili, James Ellington and CJ Ujah who improved on their European title-winning display of earlier this month.
Forty-eight hours before Usain Bolt had rated Britain’s Olympic prospects as “very slim”. Their response will have prompted a rethink.
And Gemili (above) warned: “We are looking to run even faster than that. We believe we’ve got the speed, and hope when Rio comes we can push that British record and challenge for gold.
“If we get the baton round we’ve got a really good chance. We are not there to fill the lane and go behind America and Jamaica. We all want to be the best, just like the guys who won in ’04. It’s possible.”