Hard day at the office for Sir Mo in Edinburgh
MO FARAH was yesterday left to reflect on a “hard day at the office” after his first race as ‘Sir Mo’ ended in a disappointing seventh-placed finish at the Great Edinburgh International XCountry.
The four-time Olympic champion, knighted in the New Year Honours, suffered the rare experience of being upstaged by a fellow Briton, Callum Hawkins, who was pipped on the line by American Leonard Korir.
Scot Hawkins, who led for much of the route before being overhauled in the closing metres, finished the 8k course in Holyrood Park in 24 minutes and four seconds, one second behind Korir. A below-par Farah struggled and trailed home 45 seconds later.
It was the first time a Briton had beaten Farah in a race since his third-placed finish over 100m in the competition Superstars in 2012, when he lost to heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua and high jumper Robbie Grabarz.
Yesterday’s race was almost certainly Farah’s farewell to cross country and he admitted afterwards he was behind schedule in his preparations for the final track season of his career.
“It’s a hard day at the office, it’s not what I wanted, but it’s where I am,” said the 33-year-old, who will bid to defend his 5000 and 10,000 metres titles at August’s World Championships in London before turning his attention to the marathon.
He added: “I’ve got quite a lot of work to do. I’m definitely a little bit behind. The last bit of training hasn’t gone as well as I wanted. But I wanted to come out here and represent my country and help the guys.
“I’ve got a great team behind me, so I’m looking forward to 2017.”
Hawkins, who will compete in the marathon at London 2017, said: “I thought I had it – I couldn’t hear because of the crowd. I’m pleased with the way I ran, obviously a bit disappointed to get beat, but I gave it my all.”
Earlier, Laura Muir continued her impressive start to the year by anchoring Great Britain to victory in the 4x1k relay.
The 23-year-old Scot, who last year broke Kelly Holmes’ British 1500m record and ended the year world-ranked No. 1 and on Wednesday smashed Liz McColgan’s national indoor 5000m record, burst clear on the final leg to claim a convincing victory.
Britain finished in third place in the overall team event, though, with the United States taking victory and Europe in second.