MO FARAH ran a blistering last lap of 52.6 seconds to sprint away to a brilliant 5 000m gold and become the first man in history to pull off a distance ‘triple-double’. Farah made it three successive world 5 000m titles and has now won gold in both track distance events at the Olympics and two World Championships as he once again found both the perfect tactical response and the form to pull it off.
This time he would not be allowed to lead it out from 500 metres to go, as we have seen so often, with Kenya’s Commonwealth champion Caleb Ndiku going to the front before the bell and stretching away down the back straight.
But as the field splintered Farah first hung on and then, coming off the final bend, surged past Ndiku to go away to his seventh global track title in a row.
“It’s great to make history,” Farah told BBC Sport.
“I didn’t feel great, my hammy (hamstring) was playing up a bit, but the medical team helped me through it and to come out here and make a double means so much to me.
“I was kind of getting nervous for the first time in a little while, but thanks to all the medical team. It was amazing to do it.”
Brendan Foster, Olympic medallist and BBC athletics commentator said: “I would say Mo is the greatest sportsman Britain has ever had.
“Tonight has put him at the top table. When you talk about the greatest distance runners of the world, he has gone alongside them. He is up there with the greats Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa Bekele, Emil Zatopek and Lasse Viren.
“Nobody has worked out how to beat him and he’s got the Rio Olympics next year and then maybe the Worlds again in London in 2017.
“This guy is still adding to his record books. He is getting better as he gets older.”