Tokyo Olympics ‘too far’ for Mo Farah

The 34-year-old Briton says he is unlikely to compete at the Tokyo Olympics as he prepares to wind down his glittering career.

Published : May 28, 2017 11:57 IST , Eugene

Mo Farah... “I’ve been on the top of my game for the last five years and everyone wants to beat me.”
Mo Farah... “I’ve been on the top of my game for the last five years and everyone wants to beat me.”
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Mo Farah... “I’ve been on the top of my game for the last five years and everyone wants to beat me.”

Mo Farah says he is unlikely to compete at the Tokyo Olympics as he prepares to wind down his glittering career. The four-time Olympic champion will sign off from track racing after August’s World Championships in London before switching to the marathon.

But the 34-year-old Briton, who laid down a marker with an emphatic 5,000m victory at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday, said he is unlikely to be marathon racing at the 2020 Olympics. Asked if he expected to run in Tokyo, Farah told AFP : “I don’t think I will be.”

“It’s too far. I miss my family. My kids are growing up fast. I’m away six months of the year training and it makes me sad not to see them growing up.”

Nevertheless, Farah said he is determined to take a serious crack at the marathon after the Worlds. “I feel like I haven’t achieved what I could achieve on the road so I want to continue on,” Farah said. “In terms of track racing, I didn’t get where I am today overnight. You’ve all seen me struggle - finish sixth, seventh, world champs, not making an Olympic final. I think road running will be a similar thing. It’s going to be hard.”

In the short term, Farah’s focus remains his two specialist events, the 5,000m and 10,000m. He has yet to decide if he will attempt to run both events in London, but said Saturday’s win in Eugene - in a world-leading 13min 00.70sec - had increased the likelihood of another double bid. “It’s looking good,” Farah said. “If I came away today and had finished sixth or seventh I’d have said it’s questionable. But the way I feel right now, I’m happy, I’m enjoying it.”

Smarter

Farah, who recently undertook a five-week training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona, said he had adapted his training regimen to suit his ageing body. “I’ve just got to be a little bit more smarter,” he said. “Certain things you used to be able to get away with that I can’t get away with any more. Like training back to back. I can’t do that any more.”

Farah said his performance on Saturday was intended to send a message to his closest rivals. Although the time was a world best, it was the controlled nature of his win that caught the eye, hitting the front in the closing stages and then kicking for home down the final straight to hold off Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha and Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworwor. “I’ve got a target on my back. I’ve been on the top of my game for the last five years and everyone wants to beat me,” Farah said.

“It was just a matter of telling the boys ‘Look, I’m ready’. A lot of the boys talk a lot. But I don’t like to do that. I just want my running to do the talking and get on with it.”

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