The greatest distance runner to have ever graced planet Earth, Mo Farah, conceded he had run the "toughest 10,000m race" of his career on the opening day of IAAF World Championships 2017 in London on Friday, August 4.
The 34-year-old though came up with one of his best displays to win his third straight 10,000m Gold at the world meet. Farah made sure he clinched glory in the last 10,000m race of his career, much to the delight of 55,000-strong crowd that was rooting for the local favourite at the Olympic Stadium.
Friday's win was also his fifth consecutive global title in the said event after his Olympic double -- London and Rio de Janeiro. However, during the course of the 25-lap race, Farah tripped and almost fell twice, resulting in injuries to his foot.
However, Farah is not willing to let the minor injury affect the chances of him completing a third World Championships double as he is set to race in the 5,000m race on Wednesday, August 9. The said race will also be the final track event as he plans to retire to switch to marathon.
"I hurt my leg and I'm going to see a doctor, a few stitches maybe. I have got a bad leg.
I just had to be strong. I have got a few cuts and bruises, just recover and get ready for the 5k [5,000m]. I've got enough days," Farah said, as quoted by the BBC.
On Friday, there was constant pressure from the rest of the pack, especially from the Kenyans and Ugandans, who as usual, tried to disturb Farah's consistency during the race. The timing of 26:49.51s was the fastest he had run in any of his five global 10,000m victories by more than 11 seconds.
It was just enough to beat Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda, who finished with a Silver with a timing of 26:49.94s after keeping the pressure on Farah throughout the race. Kenya's Paul Tanui came third with a timing of 26:50.60s.
Despite falling behind initially, Farah was in control as he headed into the final lap. However, he was tripped by Tanui twice and both times the British runner just managed to recover.
In the final curve, Farah stepped up, like he usually does, and raced past the finish line. The distance runner said he believed in his sprinting abilities that once again has worked in his favour.
"It was one of the toughest races of my life. The guys gave it to me, it wasn't about Mo, it was about 'how do we beat Mo?'," Farah said.
He added: "You had the Kenyans, the Ethiopians, the Ugandans, everybody working as a team against me. Fair play to them, they worked it hard and they chucked everything at me. At one point in the middle of the race I wasn't thinking I was going to lose, but I thought 'this is tough, this is tough'."
