Mo cans marathon for return to track
Mo Farah has not finished with running on the track after all.
A little more than two years after stating that he would be dedicating himself to the marathon, Farah, 36, announced a change of heart yesterday. He will return to the track with the aim of competing in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics next year, defending the title that he won in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro four years later.
After winning four Olympic gold medals and six world titles at 5000m and 10,000m, Farah has concluded that he has a greater chance of success in Tokyo on the track than on the road. He set a British marathon record of 2hr 5min 11sec in winning the Chicago Marathon last year, but he finished fifth in the London Marathon in April this year, more than 3min behind Eliud Kipchoge, of Kenya, who had set a world record of 2:01.39 at the Berlin Marathon in September, 2018.
Kenenisa Bekele, the Ethiopian, was 2sec outside Kipchoge’s world record in Berlin this year, while Kipchoge ran 1:59.40 in artificially controlled conditions in Vienna last month. Farah’s chances of catching them in Tokyo looked slim, especially as he finished eighth in his most recent marathon attempt in Chicago.
‘‘The [marathon] training was totally different,’’ Farah said.
‘‘Next year I’m going to be back on the track, to give it a go in the 10,000m. Hopefully I haven’t lost my speed. I’ll train hard for it and see what I can do.’’
Since the switch, Farah has been coached by Gary Lough, husband of Paula Radcliffe. In 2017, after winning the 10,000m at the world championships in London, Farah parted company with Alberto Salazar, who had overseen his Olympic successes but is now serving a four-year ban for doping offences.
The Nike Oregon Project, where Farah trained under Salazar for seven years, has been shut down. The fallout from the scandal continues for UK Athletics, which this week announced an independent review into its handling of links to Salazar. Farah has never failed a drugs test and said that he was misled when he confronted Salazar after the allegations in 2015.
At the recent world championships in Doha, the 10,000m was won by Joshua Cheptegei, of Kenya, in 26min 48.36sec, a fraction quicker than Farah had run to win gold in London in 2017.
Farah will not try to repeat his London and Rio doubles with the 5000m, and clearly feels that a third gold medal over his natural distance is more attainable than in the marathon.
As David Bedford, the former 10,000m world record-holder, said: ‘‘Kipchoge is the best we’ve seen. If Mo medals in Tokyo, he will have achieved significantly, but I’m not talking about gold.’’
The greatest challenge now for Farah will be to rediscover the finishing kick that made him the best in the world over 10,000m for a decade, losing only once in that time over the distance.
– The Times, London