Only few athletes in the world can produce entertaining performances en route winning their events like Mo Farah who retained his 10,000m world title at the London World Championships, clocking a World Lead (WL) of 26:49.51.
It was indeed a commanding performance from the Great Britain athlete who at some point was beckoning on the crowd to cheer on even with as much as 15 laps to negotiate in the race.
Farah did not disappoint the applauding fans who came out in their thousands to witness him win the first GOLD medal of this competition, incidentally, in his last ever 10,000m race.
“It was amazing tonight, I had to get my head around it. I got a bit emotional at the start and then I just had to get in the zone. It has all been amazing,” Farah said after the race.
Farah as expected, was tactically savvy, allowing the East Africans to wear themselves out before taking matters into his own hands and going in front at the sound of the bell.
Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei ran a Personal Best (PB) of 26:49.94 to win Silver, while Kenya’s Paul Tanui won his third consecutive World Championships Bronze with a time of 26:50.60.
Farah, who is competing in his last track championships before switching to road races, ensured that he would be bowing out in style by winning his third consecutive 10,000m world title.
On how he edged out his competitors, he said: “I just wanted to play with the guy’s head. It wasn’t an easy race though. It has been a long journey where I have worked very hard on long distance but also speed. But what a way to end my career in London. This was very special.
“I knew at 12 laps to go when they went hard from there; I knew it was going to be tough. It was about believing in my sprint finish and knowing that I have been in that position before. It helped a lot having that experience.
At this stage there is no betting against Farah coming back in a few days time to retain his 5,000m title before finally calling it quits on the tracks.
