Mo Farah Wins Gold, Seeks Another

By Parvez Fatteh, Founder of http://sportingummah.com, sports@muslimobserver.com

Britain’s Mo Farah competes in his men’s 5000m round 1 heat during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium August 8, 2012. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez

Somalian-British long-distance runner Mohammed “Mo” Farah thrilled his country-people by becoming the first British man to win an Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 meter men’s race. The thrill at these London Olympic Games was compounded by the fact that Farah’s gold was the third gold medal won by Great Britain in the span of literally 45 minutes. 
Now he sets his sights on the 5,000 meter event, where he faces an uphill battle to succeed after exerting so much energy in the 10,000 meter event. He was pushed hard in the 5,000 meter preliminaries, eventually finishing third in 13 minutes 26 seconds to qualify for the finals.

“I am definitely tired and I think it showed out there,” the 29-year-old said. “The legs didn’t feel great but that is what happens. Hopefully I will recover well and look forward to the final, forget about what I have done and rest up. It was a really rough race… As soon as they saw me there was a lot of barging and pushing. I got caught so many times. There is definitely a target. I am the Olympic champion over 10,000 meters. You just have to accept it. Hopefully the final won’t be as rough because we won’t have so many guys.”

There had been reports that Farah would consider bowing out of the 5,000 meter event if he did not have the energy to continue, but more recently Farah has denied having any thoughts of withdrawing from the 5,000m despite the draining effects of last Saturday. “By the time I got back it was a late night and there was a lot of emotion,” he said. “It is something I had never done before and now I know how much it takes out of you. [Now] there is zero pressure. I am not putting any pressure on myself. I want to do well for the crowd because the support drives you further. Whatever I do I will give 100%. I am full of confidence and having the home crowd will definitely drive me more.”

Farah is attempting to become only the second man ever to achieve the long-distance double of winning the 10,000 meter and 5,000 meter events at the same Olympic games. The only other to accomplish this feat was Ethiopia’s Kenesisa Bekele at the China Olympic Games in 2008.

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