MO FARAH’S TOKYO OLYMPIC HOPES HANG BY THREAD
Mo Farah is facing a desperate struggle to make the Olympics after failing to post the qualifying time for Tokyo and finishing a shock eighth at the European Athletics 10,000m Cup in Birmingham.
Despite it being his first 10,000m race for nearly four years, Farah was expecting to run easily the 27min 28sec needed to make it on the plane to Japan. Instead the 38-year-old was toiling and grimacing by halfway – the result, he said, of a niggle to his left ankle sustained 10 days ago. Incredibly it was Farah’s first defeat over the distance for nearly 10 years, since coming second at the world championships in Daegu in 2011. His finishing time, 27:50:54, was also his slowest since 2014. To add insult to injury he was also beaten by his fellow Briton Marc Scott. “I am obviously disappointed with the result, but it is what it is,” said Farah. “Without making any excuses, the last 10 days haven’t been great as I’ve been carrying a niggle since I got back from training.”
Farah was one of 12 British athletes competing at the European 10,000m Cup, which doubled up as the British trials for the Tokyo Olympics. The word from Farah’s camp was that he was in excellent shape after a training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, and he made an early point to his rivals by taking the lead on the opening lap, which was run in a fast 62 seconds. From then on, though, he slipped back, and was struggling long before he began to grit his teeth over the closing laps.
“With 15 laps to go you know my face, but I was hurting hard,” he added. “I just had to keep fighting, keep digging. Keep digging in and finish within the top two. I honestly thought with five laps to go I had the time.” Farah will have another three weeks to run the qualifying standard, but the chances of him making it to Tokyo, let alone defending his 10,000m title, now look slim. “This is the first bit I have done of track in the last two weeks,” he added. “It is not ideal. But it is what it is, it is part of sport. However Scott, who was seventh in 27.49:83 in a race won by France’s Morhad Amdouni in 27:23:27, will be there. “The race wasn’t perfect by any means,” he said. “But I won the British race and that’s the main thing – to get on the plane.”