Sir Mo bows out with a silver medal
SIR Mo Farah missed out on his dream double after coming second in the 5,000 metres at the World Championships. The four-time Olympic champion failed to mount a third defence of the 5,000m as Ethiopia’s Muktar Edris claimed gold in London on Saturday. Farah had already won the 10,000m last week with the 34-year-old the only GB athlete to have won an individual honour at the home championships. He said: “It’s been amazing. It’s been a long journey but it’s been incredible. It doesn’t quite sink in until you compete here and cross the line - I had a couple of minutes to myself - that this is it. “To be honest with you it takes so much out of me. It’s not an excuse, but it took a lot more out of me than I realised. Tactically, I was trying to cover every move. “They had the game plan: one of them was going to sacrifice themselves. That’s what they did tonight, and the better man won on the day. I gave it all, I didn’t have a single bit left at the end.”
Farah, who had not lost a final in 2,176 days, having also won the 10,000m and 5,000m at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, crossed the line in 13 minutes 33.22 seconds.
But he was defeated after failing to mount a recovery in the last 200m in a frantic sprint finish.
Edris finished in 13mins 32.79secs, with the United States’ Paul Chelimo third.
An emotional Farah collapsed on the track after the race and appeared almost inconsolable as he held his arms over his face.
He said: “I thought it might be possible (to win), but my legs had it. I got boxed in early on - it doesn’t normally happen - but I got boxed in early and couldn’t get out.”
Farah is due to retire from the track at the end of the month, after the Diamond League final in Zurich, to focus on the marathon.
British team-mate Andrew Butchart finished eighth in 13mins 38.73secs.
Meanwhile, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Morgan Lake finished fifth and sixth respectively in the women’s high jump.
They both failed to clear 1.97 metres - just one centimetre short of Johnson-Thompson’s personal best - having jumped 1.95m and Ashley Bryant came 11th in the decathlon.