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Presenting... Sir Mo Farah!

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Wow!!!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/london?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#london</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sirmo?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sirmo</a> <a href="https://t.co/AdFp8wY7H9">pic.twitter.com/AdFp8wY7H9</a></p>— Sir Mo Farah (@Mo_Farah) <a href="https://twitter.com/Mo_Farah/status/930515648488378374?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 14, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah will defend his 10,000m title at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Great Britain's Farah, 36, quit track events in 2017 to concentrate on the marathon.

But having won gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, he has decided to return to where he has been most successful.

"Next year, I'm going to be back on the track and I'm going to give it a go in the 10,000m," he said on social media.

"Hopefully I haven't lost my speed but I will train hard for it and see what I can do. I'm really excited."

Farah, who is also a six-time world champion and has yet to run the marathon at a major championship, hinted earlier in the year that he could make the switch because he "missed" the frequency that track racing provided.

He finished eighth in the Chicago Marathon in October, having won it in 2018 in only his third race.

Farah, who will still need to qualify for the Tokyo Games, added: "It's been really exciting competing in the marathon over the last couple of years.

"To win the Chicago Marathon was nice and to finish third in the London Marathon was OK, and it's been a great learning curve for me."

Farah's track return also comes at a time when he has faced questions about his association with former coach Alberto Salazar, who has been banned for four years for doping violations.

Speaking before the Chicago Marathon, Farah said he had "not done anything wrong" and said there was an "agenda" against him.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/50599545
 
Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah broke the one-hour world record on his return to the track at Friday's Diamond League meeting in Brussels.

Farah ran 21,330m, bettering the record of 21,285m set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007.

It is the 37-year-old Briton's first world record outdoors.

"It isn't supposed to be easy to break a world record, but I can tell you that it was really hard. The record stood for a very long time," said Farah.

"So that says a lot. I was very excited to be back on the track. My first meet back on the track was what was driving me."

In the rarely run one-hour race athletes try to cover as much distance as possible in 60 minutes.

Earlier on Friday, Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands set a new world record in the women's race. Her 18,930m effort surpassed Dire Tune's mark of 18,517m, set in 2008.

Farah switched to road running after the Rio Olympics but was returning to the track in his bid to compete in the 10,000m at next year's postponed Tokyo Games.

Competing for the first time since October's Chicago Marathon, Farah pulled away alongside Belgium's Bashir Abdi with 30 minutes left.

The pair's effort looked in doubt as they fell behind Gebrselassie's record pace with no fans in the stadium to drive them on, but they went ahead again as the final quarter of the race began.

Abdi briefly took the lead, but in the end six-time world champion Farah kicked away and won the race with ease.

He completed over 53 laps at an average pace of 67 seconds per lap to become the 12th athlete to hold the record.

"At a certain point, with just 10 laps to go, it became tough so I was happy that Bashir took the lead," Farah added.

"However, I felt great with just one minute to go. I kept believing in my speed so I knew I had a good chance to take this win. A last fast lap is still my best tactic."

Farah will return to road racing when he competes in the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on 12 September.

He will then act as a pace-setter for Kenya's world record holder Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele at the delayed London Marathon on 4 October.

Also competing in Brussels, Britain's world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson ran a season's-best time of 13.57 seconds to finish fourth in the 100m hurdles. The 27-year-old later came sixth in the high jump, reaching 1.84m.

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon, the reigning Olympic 1500m champion, missed out on the 1,000m record by less than a second.

The 26-year-old finished in two minutes 29.92 seconds, with Russian Svetlana Masterkova's record having stood at 2:28.98 since 1996.

In the men's 1500m, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen - the event's European record holder - sailed to an easy victory in 3:30.69 while Sweden's Armand Duplantis cleared an impressive 6m to win the pole vault, surpassing the meeting record of 5.96m set by France's Renaud Lavillenie.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/54031824
 
He's on I'm a celebrity get me out of here. Seems quite popular with the other contestants.
 
He's on I'm a celebrity get me out of here. Seems quite popular with the other contestants.

He's the only real star on the show. Such a lovely down to earth fella. I would love to meet me, one of GB's greatest ever athletes.
 
<b>Mo Farah: Britain's four-time Olympic champion to return at London 10,000</b>

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah will make his return to competition at the Vitality London 10,000 in May.

The 38-year-old, Britain's most decorated track and field athlete, has not raced since suffering a fractured foot in June last year.

He fell short of the 10,000m selection time for last year's Tokyo Olympics at the British Championships.

Farah, the 5,000m and 10,000m champion at both the London and Rio Games, is a seven-time winner of the London 10,000.

The race, won by Farah in five consecutive years between 2009 and 2013, and again in 2018 and its most recent edition in 2019, will take place on Monday 2 May.

"I've been working hard to get back into shape following my injury last summer and I've got a few more months of hard training ahead of me," said Farah.

"I have great memories of the event. I have won it seven times and racing in central London is something you can never get bored of. The atmosphere among the thousands of participants is always fantastic and I can't wait to be part of it again."

Farah said he would consider his future after failing to qualify for Tokyo, saying: "If I can't compete with the best why bother?"

He later told the BBC he had "been struggling for quite a while" but added he was determined to recover from the injury and finish his career on his own terms.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/60464775
 
Mo Farah will race for the first time since failing to qualify for the Tokyo Games in Monday's London 10,000.
 
London 10,000: Mo Farah to race for first time since June

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah says it would not "make any sense" to continue racing if he could not compete at the highest level.

The 39-year-old Briton will compete in Monday's Vitality London 10,000, his first race since failing to qualify for last year's delayed Tokyo Olympics.

Farah, who struggled with a foot injury, fell short of the Great Britain 10,000m qualifying time in June.

"If you can't mix with the best then maybe it's time to step down," he said.

Farah told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I always told myself that if I'm not going to be able to compete with the guys at the top then it doesn't make any sense.

"It doesn't mean I don't love the sport - I do and that's what keeps me going.

"I see it as something that makes me happy and I enjoy and just do the best that I can. I'm excited and I'm looking forward to it."

Farah will take on Phil Sesemann, the first male British finisher in the 2021 London Marathon, and Chris Thompson, who won the British Olympic trial last year, on Monday.

Asked in July about what race he imagines will mark the end of his career, Farah said: "I think it will be a marathon, or half marathon, and I'd love one more track event."

Farah returned to the track in 2020 after three years of focusing on the marathon, but his failure to qualify for Tokyo meant he could not defend the 10,000m title he won at Rio 2016.

Farah fractured a foot during training in the build-up to qualifying.

"For me, it was all about the Olympics. Not being able to do it and being injured was hard," he said.

"It took six months (for the injury to heal). It was hard but I've got a great family, beautiful kids, and got more involved in my family life."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/61270746
 
Olympic hero Sir Mo Farah has admitted his career as an elite track athlete may be over. The announcement came after he endured an embarrassing defeat at the hands of a club runner who had to pay £37 entry fee to compete at the Vitality London 10,000 on Bank Holiday Monday.

The British track star has enjoyed a career which has seen him pick up four Olympic gold medals and six world titles, as well as six Great North Run wins. Following Monday's defeat Farah said he would continue to "take it race by race and let the body see what you can do".

The Somali-born runner had always been renowned for his blistering sprint finish but he couldn't manage it when 25-year-old competitor Ellis Cross crossed the line ahead of him. Cross wasn't even part of the elite field and wore a bib with No 219 on it rather than his name.

Farah clocked in a time of 28 minutes 44 seconds – a minute off his best time on the road, and four seconds behind Cross. Following the defeat Farah was asked if his track career was done.

In response he said: "I think for sure. I’m just being honest with you guys. In terms of track that’s it, I think.

“I’m not a spring chicken any more. You just can’t come back from each session. I’ve got a lot of work to get back into it and race again and be in decent shape.”

Speaking to the BBC, the four-time Olympic champion said: “Your body has to be ready. You have to be in the right frame of mind. You have to be able to compete with the guys.

“Today was a tough day. Ellis did really well to win here. But you’ve got to see where you are. At the minute I don’t even know. You’ve got to take it race by race and let the body see what it can do. I’m not getting any younger, am I?”

The modest athlete refused to blame his injuries for his defeat and paid tribute to Cross – who runs for Aldershot, Farnham and District AC, works in the Up & Running shop in Surbiton and coaches young children.
 
Mo is indisputably one of the greatest track & field athletes ever to represent Great Britain.

If this is the end, then what a career it has been.
 
Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah will run in the 2022 London Marathon in October.

It will be the 39-year-old Briton's first full marathon since 2019 and he will use the Big Half - a half-marathon race - in September as preparation.

Farah has raced in three London Marathons and was a pacemaker at the elite-only event in 2020.

"Everyone knows how much I love the London Marathon so I'm really excited to be coming back in 2022," said Farah.

"It does seem a long time ago since I last took part in the full race in 2019 and I can't wait to get back out there again, test myself against the best marathon runners in the world and enjoy that buzz and amazing atmosphere London creates on marathon day.

"I am focused on getting a good training block in between now and then."

Farah returned to the track in 2020 after three years of focusing on the marathon but failed to qualify for last year's delayed Tokyo Olympics.

He was also surprisingly beaten by club runner Ellis Cross at the London 10,000 in May as he returned to competition after an 11-month absence.

Farah's highest finish at the London Marathon was third in 2018 and his time of two hours five minutes 11 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in 2018 is a British record.

BBC
 
Just found out about he was trafficked from Africa and his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.
 
Sir Mo Farah reveals he was trafficked to the UK as a child

Sir Mo Farah was brought to the UK illegally as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant, he has revealed.

The Olympic star has told the BBC he was given the name Mohamed Farah by those who flew him over from Djibouti. His real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.

He was flown over from the east African country aged nine by a woman he had never met, and then made to look after another family's children, he says.

"For years I just kept blocking it out," the Team GB athlete says.

"But you can only block it out for so long."

The long-distance runner has previously said he came to the UK from Somalia with his parents as a refugee.

But in a documentary by the BBC and Red Bull Studios, seen by BBC News and airing on Wednesday, he says his parents have never been to the UK - his mother and two brothers live on their family farm in the breakaway state of Somaliland.

His father, Abdi, was killed by stray gunfire when Sir Mo was four years old, in civil violence in Somalia. Somaliland declared independence in 1991 but is not internationally recognised.

Sir Mo says he was about eight or nine years old when he was taken from home to stay with family in Djibouti. He was then flown over to the UK by a woman he had never met and wasn't related to.

She told him he was being taken to Europe to live with relatives there - something he says he was "excited" about. "I'd never been on a plane before," he says.

The woman told him to say his name was Mohamed. He says she had fake travel documents with her that showed his photo next to the name "Mohamed Farah".

When they arrived in the UK, the woman took him to her flat in Hounslow, west London, and took a piece of paper off him that had his relatives' contact details on.

"Right in front of me, she ripped it up and put it in the bin. At that moment, I knew I was in trouble," he says.

Sir Mo says he had to do housework and childcare "if I wanted food in my mouth". He says the woman told him: "If you ever wanna see your family again, don't say anything."

"Often I would just lock myself in the bathroom and cry," he says.

For the first few years the family didn't allow him to go to school, but when he was about 12 he enrolled in Year 7 at Feltham Community College.

Staff were told Sir Mo was a refugee from Somalia.

His old form tutor Sarah Rennie tells the BBC he came to school "unkempt and uncared for", that he spoke very little English and was an "emotionally and culturally alienated" child.

She says the people who said they were his parents didn't attend any parents' evenings.

Sir Mo's PE teacher, Alan Watkinson, noticed a transformation in the young boy when he hit the athletics track.

"The only language he seemed to understand was the language of PE and sport," he says.

Sir Mo says sport was a lifeline for him as "the only thing I could do to get away from this [living situation] was to get out and run".

He eventually confided in Mr Watkinson about his true identity, his background, and the family he was being forced to work for.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62123886
 
One of the most decorated athletes in human history borne out of such a painful and traumatic childhood. All he went though in in the UK and still chose to represent them and bring home countless accolades under the British flag. A true champion.
 
This is truly unbelievable and so sad. I know of desi families bringing over nephews( illegally) as their own, mostly in the 70s and 80s and its always worked out badly for the kids. Many are messed up and become estranged from their families here and back home.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We applaud <a href="https://twitter.com/Mo_Farah?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Mo_Farah</a> for his bravery in telling his heartbreaking story - he underlines the human reality at the heart of so many stories like his - and the desperate need for safe and humane routes for people seeking asylum. <a href="https://t.co/RQswRDhflp">https://t.co/RQswRDhflp</a></p>— Refugee Council &#55358;&#56801; (@refugeecouncil) <a href="https://twitter.com/refugeecouncil/status/1546608735216361477?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Many of the Afg children are trafficked into the UK at the behest of parents who pay anything upto £8000. The sacrifices parents make to in order for their children to have a better life.
 
Many of the Afg children are trafficked into the UK at the behest of parents who pay anything upto £8000. The sacrifices parents make to in order for their children to have a better life.

Id say this is closer to the truth about Mo His mum very likely sent him over for a better life for all rather than the fact he was kidnapped

Mo isnt being totally honest with us i reckon
 
Id say this is closer to the truth about Mo His mum very likely sent him over for a better life for all rather than the fact he was kidnapped

Mo isnt being totally honest with us i reckon

He has told most of the story but I agree, he can't bring himself to blame his mum. TBH I don't blame him, she must have used every penny to send him over, and prayed that he stay safe with the family. Its also noticeable how many Western African children are in the UK, and again parents have given up everything to send them over.
 
Sir Mo Farah 'relieved' Home Office won't take action over citizenship

Sir Mo Farah has said he is "relieved" that the Home Office will not take action against him after he revealed he was trafficked into the UK.

The Olympic star disclosed on Monday that his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin, but he got British citizenship under the name Mohamed Farah.

Mohamed Farah was the name given to him by the people who brought him into the UK illegally.

The Home Office told BBC News it would not investigate Sir Mo.

"It makes me relieved," he said in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"This is my country. If it wasn't for [my PE teacher] Alan and the people who supported me throughout my childhood then maybe I wouldn't even have the courage to do this.

"There's a lot of people that I owe my life to - particularly my wife, who has been very supportive throughout my career, and who gave me the strength to come and talk about it, telling me it's okay to do this."

Legally, the government can remove a person's British nationality if their citizenship was obtained through fraud.

But a Home Office official told BBC News it would not take action over Sir Mo's nationality, as it is assumed children are not complicit when their citizenship is gained by deception.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62137599
 
The Metropolitan Police has started an investigation into Sir Mo Farah's revelation that he was trafficked to the UK illegally under the name of another child.

The four-time Olympic champion, 39, revealed in a BBC documentary how he was brought to Britain from Somalia illegally after his father was killed in the civil war.

The father of four said he was born Hussein Abdi Kahin and brought to the UK with a woman and her children under the name of another boy, called Mohamed Farah.

The Met said: "We are aware of reports in the media concerning Sir Mo Farah. No reports have been made to the MPS [Metropolitan Police Service] at this time."

Specialist officers have opened an investigation and are "assessing the available information", the force said.

In the documentary, broadcast on Wednesday, Sir Mo said "the truth is I'm not who you think I am" as he spoke of the traumatic events of his childhood after leaving war-torn Somaliland in east Africa.

Sir Mo said he was helped to obtain UK citizenship in 2000 by his school PE teacher Alan Watkinson while still using the name Mohamed Farah.

In the documentary he said he thought he was going to Europe to live with relatives and recalled going through a UK passport check under the guise of Mohamed at the age of nine.

The athlete said he had "not great memories" of his childhood home in Hounslow, where he was told to work around the house if he wanted to eat.

He said if he wanted food he had to look after children, shower them, cook and clean.

After telling Mr Watkinson the truth, he moved and lived with his friend's mother, who took good care of him.

Sir Mo was warned by a barrister that although he was trafficked into the country as a small child and told authorities the truth, there was a "real risk" that his British nationality could be taken away.

However, the Home Office has said "no action whatsoever" will be taken against him.

Sir Mo, who became the first British track and field athlete to win four Olympic gold medals, said his children have motivated him to be truthful about his past.

Ahead of the broadcast, Sir Mo wrote on Instagram that he did the documentary for his family "so they could understand more about the experiences that led us to becoming the family we are today".

SKY
 
If he wasn’t an Olympic hero and Knight of the Realm, Patel’s goons would deport him to Rwanda.
 
It's a heroic story to be honest. What a world we live in where third world parents will send their kids on dangerous journeys across seas and continents to buy them a better life. And now Mo is one of Britain's most famous sporting heroes.
 
If Mo Farah was not an Olympic hero etc then he wouldn't have revealed his origin story because no one would have cared about him, certainly no documentary on him. Ergo, Priti Patel would not have deported him.
 
Every thread seems to turn into Tories stuff nowadays lol
 
If Mo Farah was not an Olympic hero etc then he wouldn't have revealed his origin story because no one would have cared about him, certainly no documentary on him. Ergo, Priti Patel would not have deported him.

She could still deport him to be honest, if she had true tory blood running through her varicose veins she should have. She's just a poor man's Nigel Farage.
 
Pretty much, plus they don’t want his medals to go to Somaliland

A British resident, who has had indefinite leave to remain here for twenty years, went to Jamaica on holiday. She had a baby there, prematurely - having intended that it be born in the UK after she got back home.

The Foreign Office are not letting her back in.

She has a husband and child in the UK.

What has happened to my country? It's like the NF are in charge.
 
A British resident, who has had indefinite leave to remain here for twenty years, went to Jamaica on holiday. She had a baby there, prematurely - having intended that it be born in the UK after she got back home.

The Foreign Office are not letting her back in.

She has a husband and child in the UK.

What has happened to my country? It's like the NF are in charge.

Hopefully if Sunak or Mourdant gets in then Psycho Patel will be sacked and a more moderate Home Sec is appointed, can sort this stuff out.
 
Hopefully if Sunak or Mourdant gets in then Psycho Patel will be sacked and a more moderate Home Sec is appointed, can sort this stuff out.

The immigration story is nonsense; more so without the facts.

What liberals forget to mention is that an ILR is only applicable on a non-UK passport, plus it does not mean one is a UK citizen either. There is a process to move from ILR status to UK Citizen with UK Passport - it's called naturalisation.

If a person with an ILR leaves the UK, then it is on a foreign passport - fact. If that person has a child abroad, then tries to reenter the UK, said person is not entering with a UK Passport, but a foreign passport, and certain rules apply. The child is not granted automatic UK citizenship for one, unless one of the child's parents was born in the UK.

It is ILLEGAL to separate child from mother, so the nonsense the child is in the UK but the mother is not, is yet another liberal lie.

What has happened to this country? Ignorance of process.
 
She could still deport him to be honest, if she had true tory blood running through her varicose veins she should have. She's just a poor man's Nigel Farage.

Passports are issued using royal prerogative, which is exercised by Her Majesty's Government; this means that the grant of a passport is a privilege, not a right.

Bob the builder can be Home Secretary but the Passport is document granted by Royal prerogative.

This means, ANYONE with a UK passport can have their passports confiscated by Royal decree.

It was Theresa May, who was then Home Secretary, that introduced certain conditions where a Passport could be stripped off a citizen, and deported. NOT Priti Patel.

You really need to up your knowledge in this sphere if you want to boot out Nigel Farage who is living rent free in your mind.
 
Hopefully if Sunak or Mourdant gets in then Psycho Patel will be sacked and a more moderate Home Sec is appointed, can sort this stuff out.

Yeah, I hope that the next leader dials down this populist culture war rubbish and gets a more humane immigration policy.

Rebuilding trust with the EU will be important after Clownfall. No more nonsense about leaving the ECHR, which underpins the GFA. Better cooperation on refugee management. Maybe rejoin Erasmus. Patch things up with Washington. Stop looking like a rogue state and start being good international citizens again.
 
Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah has withdrawn from Sunday's London Marathon with a hip injury.

It would have been the 39-year-old's first full marathon since 2019.

The six-time world champion won the Big Half - a half-marathon race - in London earlier this month as part of his preparations.

Britain's Farah said it is "really disappointing" and that he has done everything he can to compete but "it hasn't proved enough".

"I've been training really hard over the past few months and I'd got myself back into good shape and was feeling pretty optimistic about being able to put in a good performance," said Farah.

"However, over the past 10 days I've been feeling pain and tightness in my right hip. I've had extensive physio and treatment and done everything I can to be on the start line but it hasn't improved enough to compete on Sunday."

'We are running the London Marathon for our country, our people'
He added that he is disappointed not to be racing in front of his home crowd and that he hopes to return to the race in April 2023.

Farah, whose highest London Marathon finish was third in 2018, has raced in three London Marathons and was a pacemaker at the elite-only event in 2020.

His time of two hours five minutes 11 seconds at the Chicago Marathon in 2018, which is his only marathon victory, is a British record.

Hugh Brasher, event director of the London Marathon, said: "We are so sorry that Mo is not fit to run on Sunday. We wish him a very speedy recovery and hope to see him running the 2023 London Marathon in April next year."

Farah returned to the track in 2020 after three years of focusing on the marathon but failed to qualify for last year's delayed Tokyo Olympics.

He was also surprisingly beaten by club runner Ellis Cross at the London 10,000 in May as he returned to competition after an 11-month absence.

Ethiopian Sisay Lemma, who won the 2021 edition of the race, and compatriot Kenenisa Bekele are among the favourites for the men's title.

BBC
 
London Marathon 2023: Mo Farah prepares for 'emotional goodbye' at home race

Mo Farah is preparing to say an "emotional" London Marathon "goodbye" to his home support after confirming his participation in April's race.

The four-time Olympic champion, 39, expects 2023 to be his final year of racing before retirement.

But he is unsure if the marathon will be his last competitive event, saying he will take it "one race at a time".

Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion Eilish McColgan will make her marathon debut in the event on 23 April.

"Without the fans I don't think I would have ever achieved what I have," said Farah.

"It is just nice to say goodbye and I think it will be quite emotional."

Both Farah and McColgan were due to run in 2022 but had to pull out because of fitness problems.

The London Marathon returns to its pre-pandemic spring slot for the first time in three years and will be broadcast live on BBC TV, iPlayer and online.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/athletics/64423763
 
London Marathon 2023: Mo Farah says his final 26.2-mile race will 'be emotional'

Mo Farah expects the London Marathon to be an "emotional" occasion as he prepares to race over the distance for the final time before retirement.

The four-time Olympic track champion, who turned 40 last month, confirmed in January that he expects 2023 to be the last year of his glittering career.

"It won't be my last race but London will be my last marathon," British record holder Farah said on Thursday.

"It will be quite emotional. Maybe after the race there will be tears."

"The support, the people coming out in London, I think that will get to me," he added. "But I will try not to think about it and run."

A hip injury prevented Farah from taking part in last year's event and, following a frustrating couple of years, Sunday's race in his home city is set to be his first full marathon since 2019.

Since his switch to the 26.2-mile distance, after an unprecedented 10th successive global distance track title at the 2017 World Championships, Farah's progress has been hampered by injury issues and he has raced just eight times since October 2019.

"It's definitely been quite emotional the last couple of years," he said.

"As an athlete you want to go out there and do the best you can but my body hasn't allowed me to.

"The last two years have definitely been tough. The key thing for me is, if I can stay injury-free and can do the work, I will continue. But my body is not allowing me."

He added: "This is it. I don't know if my body can do it week-in, week-out."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/65326358
 
There was no glorious farewell for Mo Farah in the city where he burnt himself into the national consciousness as he struggled home in ninth place in his final London marathon. But the 40-year-old, who confirmed afterwards that he will retire in September, was grateful that he made it to the finish – due, in part, to the huge crowds that swelled the route from Greenwich to the Mall.

Farah, one of the eternal faces of London’s 2012 Olympic Games, even found himself beaten by two British athletes: the 25-year-old Emile Cairess, who showed immense promise to finish sixth in his debut marathon, and Phil Sesemann, who combines running with his day job as a junior doctor for the NHS, yet still came eighth. Intriguingly Cairess and Sesemann often train together in Leeds, although they no longer go on slower runs together after Cairness tripped over Sesemann’s dogs, Haile and Kipchoge, named after the two legendary athletes.

Afterwards Farah, whose time of 2hr 10min 28sec was the slowest of his career, could not hide his disappointment. However, he admitted it could have been worse without the continuous cries of “Go on Mo!” and the ringing of cow bells spurring him on. “If it wasn’t for the crowd, at some point I would have dropped out,” he admitted. “That’s what kept me going. It was amazing support. Part of me wanted to cry. But the people were amazing, even in the rain, to line the streets. It’s what has kept me going for so long throughout my career.

“I will miss that feeling. I am emotional today. London has been so great to me over the years and I wanted to be here to say thank you to the crowd.”

Farah had started brightly but after 14 miles his legs became heavy and he laboured as Cairess overtook him. The changing of the guard normally happens at Buckingham Palace. Here it was taking place just after Tower Bridge. “In terms of my preparation for this race, I felt great,” he explained. “I was confident and I thought I could do between 2.05 and 2.07. But the body didn’t respond today and it was a little bit disappointing. That’s when you know when it’s time to call it a day.”

In 2012, Cairess had finished 24th in the Mini London Marathon – a three-mile junior race the day before the main event – as Farah won double gold at the Olympics in the same city. But his time of 2hr 8min7sec means he now has the qualifying standard for the Paris Olympics – while Farah confirmed that he would retire after September’s Great North Run.

Cairess later attributed his talent as coming from his mother, Alisson, who he started running with aged four or five. “I came through cross country, fell running in Yorkshire,” he said. “Proper running.” Asked what it was like to beat one of the greatest British athletes in history, Cairess replied: “I did beat Mo Farah but it’s not the Mo Farah who won the Olympics.”

Hugh Brasher, the London marathon event director, later admitted organisers were delighted that the day passed without any incident after fears that Just Stop Oil or protestors at the Extinction Rebellion event in Parliament Square could try to disrupt the race. “After all that was spoken before about Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil, I was in Parliament Square earlier and it was a party,” he said. “People were celebrating together.

“Global warning and what we are doing to the planet has to be discussed, but we can work together on it, and Extinction Rebellion has proved it has moved on to another phase. The conversations we’ve had with them to ensure that this could happen have been amazing.”

Brasher also confirmed that organisers were expecting a record 48,200 finishers and to raise over £60m for charity before hailing a remarkable day of action in the men’s and women’s elite fields. “You couldn’t have written those races, they would have said you were making it up,” he added.

Guardian
 
Mo Farah, one of the greatest British athletes of all time, finished fourth in the final race of his career at the Great North Run.

The 40-year-old four-time Olympic champion slipped off the pace early in the famous 13.1-mile race from Newcastle to South Shields.

He finished three minutes 30 seconds behind Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola, who won in 59mins 58secs.

"It's very emotional. There was a lot going through my mind," Farah said.

He told BBC Sport: "All I know is running and that is what made me happy for so many years.

"Running is everything to me. Running is what saved me."

He became the first Briton to complete the Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m double with victory in front of a joyous home crowd at London 2012, and defended his titles at Rio 2016.

Only five Britons have more Olympic medals than Farah, who also won six world, five European and two European indoor titles as well as the Chicago Marathon in a career dating back more than two decades.

Farah waved to the crowd during the final 200m of the Great North Run before jogging back down the finishing straight to high-five fans, many of whom were carrying 'One Mo Time' signs.

"Without the crowd I wouldn't have got through it," he said.

"I wanted to end my career here in Newcastle. I've had some amazing memories. It's really important to come out here and give my support to the crowd.

"It's very important to have a race like this. Without the support and community in Newcastle, it wouldn't be the same."

Former European 10,000m champion and Great North Run founder Brendan Foster said: "Mo Farah is the greatest sportsman or woman Britain has ever had. We'll never see his type again."

Steve Cram, the former 1500m world champion and now BBC commentator, said: "Thank you for the memories. Thank you for the medals. Thank you for all the excitement and drama."

British Athletics described Farah, who was knighted in 2016, as "the greatest", while Team GB tweeted: "Generation: inspired."

BBC
 
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