Flying Farah fine tunes for Moscow

LONDON (Reuters) - Mo Farah delivered another devastating display of his power, confidence and versatility as he crushed the field to win the Diamond League 3,000 metres on an emotional return to the Olympic Stadium on Saturday.

Mo Farah of Britain holds a union flag after winning the men's 3000m at the London Diamond League 'Anniversary Games' athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium, in east London

Mo Farah of Britain holds a union flag after winning the men's 3000m at the London Diamond League 'Anniversary Games' athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium, in east London





Two weeks after becoming the sixth-fastest man of all time over 1,500 metres and two before he bids for another 5,000/10,000 double at the Moscow world championships, Farah turned on the after-burners with 500 metres to go to triumph in seven minutes 36.85 seconds.

It was not the British record many had predicted but was a personal best and was more than enough to satisfy 60,000 screaming fans doing their best to recreate the noise that helped drive him to his stunning distance double on the same track 12 months ago.

"This is where I love to run and last year at the Olympics was a really big year for me. This is where I made my name," said Farah.

"I'm enjoying my running and it's great to have the country behind you and I just want to make the country proud."

If Usain Bolt was the international face of the 2012 Games, then Farah was the man who got the home nation's blood pumping with two amazing and truly memorable performances to win the coveted distance double.

When he toes the line now the 30-year-old is expected to win but it is easy to forget what a quantum leap he made from impressive European to an athlete finally able to break the east African hegemony of world distance running.

Two years ago when he suffered an agonising defeat to Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan in the 10,000m world championship final he could surely never have imagined how things would take such a positive turn.

A week later he bounced back to win the 5,000, the first global long distance title won by a British man, and the following year delivered that golden Olympic double that propelled him to super-stardom and gave the world his "mobot" celebration.

RELENTLESS PURSUIT

His relentless pursuit of a last-lap kick has given him an acceleration that nobody in the world can live with and earlier this month his 3:28.81 1,500m set a European record and broke Steve Cram's 28-year-old British mark.

He now holds the British record at 1,500m, 5,000m, 10,000m and half-marathon - and is likely to add the full marathon when he makes his debut over the distance in London next April.

Accordingly, Dave Moorcroft's 31-year-old British 3,000m best of 7:32.79 looked there for the taking on the anniversary of the first day of the London Olympics on Saturday.

That began to look unlikely after a steady opening few laps as Farah tucked in safely just off a relatively conservative pacemaker.

Ethiopia's Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist Tariku Bekele took up the running at halfway and American Dathan Ritzenhein then put some pressure on with three laps to go but Farah reacted to both attacks comfortably before accelerating 500m out.

The crowd, recognising that this was why the meeting's tickets had been snapped up in 75 minutes, responded with wonderful support and at the bell their man found another gear still.

He opened a 20-metre gap by the start of the back straight and had stretched it to 40 by the time he crossed the line.

American duo Ryan Hill and Andrew Bumbalough finished strongly to take second and third but Hill's time of 7.42.32 was almost six seconds behind Farah's.

The Briton will undoubtedly face stiffer opposition in Moscow but he has shown he can win with just about any tactics and best of the rest will surely have to go all out from the gun if they hope to draw the sting from his phenomenal finish and put the brakes on a man at the peak of his powers.

(Editing by Alison Wildey)


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Source: Reuters


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