Farah attacks the media over ‘likely doper’ accusation
Olympic champion on defensive after 3,000m Briton says no chance he will ever fail a drugs test
Ben Bloom ATHLETICS CORRESPONDENT at the London Stadium
An exasperated Mo Farah launched a tirade against the media for “making something out of nothing” yesterday after it emerged that the sport’s own governing body had labelled him a “likely doper”.
Documents leaked by Russian hackers last week revealed Farah had been included on a list of leading athletes flagged by the International Association of Athletics Federations for suspicious biological passports.
One file related to a test Farah gave on Nov 23, 2015, featuring the notation: “Likely doping; Passport suspicious: further data is required,” before a second file, dated April 2016, appeared to clear Farah of any suspicion, stating that he is “now flagged as normal”.
The four-time Olympic champion received a customary rousing reception from the British crowd as he triumphed over 3,000m at the Anniversary Games here yesterday, before then going on the offensive over coverage of the IAAF leak.
“I am sick of repeating myself. You guys just make something out of nothing,” he said to reporters after the race. “I will never, ever fail a drugs test. I work hard at what I do and I just carry on enjoying what I do.
“What I do day in and day out, there are no secrets to what I do. My life is not as easy as people think – it is hard work, about grafting. I wish you guys would understand it a bit more and write down the facts.”
When it was put to him that the defence of never failing a drugs test had been an irrelevance in previous high-profile doping cases, Farah proceeded to repeat the assertion in a sometimes confused response.
“People who know me and do what I do and love the sport and what we do, day in and day out, in terms of our system and what we do, as I say, I am sick of repeating myself year after year,” he said.
“I do what I do with a love and a joy. I can only control my legs and what I do, and I know there are a lot of people who support me, behind me, the whole nation.
“It is just a small minority who think to become a success you must be doing something.
“I said I will never fail a drugs test. That is who I am. I believe in clean sports and I just have to enjoy what I do, keep smiling.”
Despite the distractions, Farah always looked comfortable as he extended his unbeaten record at this venue.
Gifted a field that lacked anyone likely to challenge either of his world title defences next month, Farah bided his time before passing his British team-mate, Andrew Butchart, with just over a lap remaining to hit the front. With regular glances over his shoulder, he held off a charge by Spain’s Adel Mechaal to sprint clear and triumph in 7min 35.15secs.
Farah then confirmed he would not race again before returning to the capital in four weeks’ time when he will bid for world titles numbers six and seven. The preparation is going well – I’m grafting and continuing to tick boxes,” he said. “Initially, I was going to try to fit a 1,500m race in between now and the World Championships, but this is my last race now.
“I’m going to [French altitude training camp] Font Romeu tomorrow. I’ll just knuckle down.”
Farah’s triumph was one of a number of home victories yesterday. After years of active campaigning for a race walk to be included at a Diamond League event, Tom Bosworth seized his opportunity and smashed the
one-mile world record to finish in 5min 31.08sec and earn himself a £12,000 bonus in the process. “I’m absolutely delighted,” he said. “All I want to do is promote our event, so hopefully today is a stepping stone.
“I think today was a great advert for race walking. I’m so glad that I managed to pull it off and deliver.”
Dina Asher-smith failed to qualify for the 100m final as she continued her comeback from a broken foot.
The winner was the Jamaican double Olympic champion, Elaine Thompson, in 10.94sec.
Chijindu Ujah confirmed his status as Britain’s No1 sprinter by winning the men’s equivalent in a season’s best 10.02sec.
Chris O’hare won a competitive 1,500m, American Allyson Felix ran the fastest time in the world this year to claim 400m victory and her compatriot, Kendra Harrison, won the 100m hurdles.
There was an emotional farewell for Paralympic hero David Weir, who bowed out in the final track race of his career by winning the T54 800m. “It’s hard to take it all in to be honest,” said a tearful Weir. “I want to thank everyone who’s been behind me for a long time. Today was something special and it’s something I’ll never forget.”