Olympic medallist Mo Farah says doping allegations against his trainer do not put any additional pressure on him and hes looking forward to running again in Londons Olympic stadium on 24 July.
Farah took time out of preparing for the 3,000m in the Diamond League Anniversary Games to surprise children on 23 July at a school in London, where he was raised after being born in Somalia.
The Olympic, World and European champion in the 5,000m and 10,000m chatted to the children and did some exercises with them before talking about his trainer, Fridays meeting and the legacy of the 2012 London Olympics.
The BBC and US online news organisation ProPublic alleged in June that coach Alberto Salazar had been involved in doping. Salazar rejected the accusations and Farah, who has not been accused of cheating, said that the issue does not affect his running.
Not at all. Its just the pressure you put on yourself. But you know, every day I wake up in the morning and I enjoy what I do and as long as I keep doing that, enjoy it, represent my country and keep winning medals, you know thats what drives me and I just want to keep doing it, said Farah.
He also said that he was looking forward to returning on Friday to the scene of his Olympic triumphs in 2012.
Im very excited and I always get excited, you know. In terms of the Olympics, my whole life has changed, you know, people see me [and call out]: Mo! I cant walk down the street and everything else. And it all happened in that stadium. So Im very excited to go back in that stadium and compete again in front of my home crowd.
Asked about the 2012 legacy, Farah said: It was all about the Olympics and you know people celebrating together and the legacy of the Olympics is incredible and I hope that we left something behind for the kids like today. But again, you know, it will take years to be able to work on and thats why we need to do grassroots and you know like myself, I have the Mo Farah Foundation where we intend to try and help, through university and schools and be able to, you know, spot the next Mo. And you know, it doesnt just happen overnight, it takes years and years and as long as we can keep doing what were doing, I think weve got a great chance.
Farah intends on defending his 5,000m and 10,000m titles at the World Championships beginning in Beijing on 22 August.