Farah lights up London again

Sir Mo claims sixth world title with thrilling sprint finish

Sir Mo Farah completed the first stage of his golden track finale after a thrilling defence of his 10,000 metres title at the World Championships.

The 34-year-old, who will retire from the track later this month, won in 26 minutes 49.51 seconds to claim his sixth world title.

Farah shrugged off continued doping allegations to mount a second defence of the 10,000m in London after victories in Moscow in 2013 and Beijing two years ago.

Farah told BBC Sport: “It was amazing. I had to get my head around it and I got a bit emotional at the start. I had to get in the zone.

“It wasn’t an easy race. I work on everything and it’s been a long journey.

“What a way to end my career in London. It’s special.”

Farah continued: “I knew at 12 laps to go when they went hard from there I knew it was going to be tough. It was about believing in my sprint finish and knowing that I have been in that position before. It helped a lot having that experience.

“That was a special moment for me. I miss spending time with them (my family). To have my family on the track is very special. Anything is possible if you train hard.”

Farah hung on during a relentlessness race which began at a blistering pace with Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor and Paul Tanui and Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Timothy Toroitich putting the pressure on at the front. But Farah, not beaten over 10,000m since 2011, remained comfortable and made his move with a lap-and-a-half to go and won in a sprint finish ahead of Cheptegei and Tanui.

Only Farah had won the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the World Championships twice in a row after his previous victories and he is now on course to claim it for a third time.

He will race again in the 5,000m heats on Wednesday ahead of his expected appearance in the final next Saturday.

Farah will focus on the marathon after ending his track career at the Diamond League final in Zurich later this month, after racing in the same competition on August 20.

Sprint star Usain Bolt was left furious with his performance, despite moving a step closer to a golden goodbye as he cruised through the 100 metres heats.

Back at the stadium where the Jamaican declared himself a “living legend” after retaining his 100m and 200m titles at the 2012 Olympics, the 30-year-old had to recover from an awful start to win his heat in 10.07 seconds.

Bolt, who is bringing the curtain down on his glittering career at these championships, was met with the customary huge cheers whenever he appeared on the big screen.

He whispered “No 1” when the camera panned to him on the start line, but the shake of the head at the finish was proof he was less than happy with his run.

Bolt’s start has been his chief, perhaps only, problem throughout his career, no great surprise for a sprinter who stands 6ft 5in. “That was very bad,” Bolt said. “I stumbled coming out of the blocks. I’m not very fond of these blocks. I think these are the worst ones I’ve ever experienced. I have to get this start together because I can’t keep doing this.”

Tonight he will look to pocket a 12th world title, to go with his eight Olympic crowns and an underwhelming farewell is almost unthinkable.

American rival Christian Coleman, who leads the world rankings with 9.82, looked impressive in qualifying in 10.01, easing down at the line, while the fastest qualifier was Bolt’s compatriot Julian Forte in 9.99.

All three Britons also qualified for the semi-finals, Reece Prescod clocking a personal best 10.03, CJ Ujah stopping the clock at 10.07 and James Dasaolu taking second behind Bolt in 10.13.

by Nick Mashiter