Sport
London 2012: Mo Farah wins gold in 5000-meter run
Britain’s Mo Farah wins gold medal in 5000. PHOTO/Stu Forster/Getty Images
Mo Farah didn’t want to leave anybody in doubt.
Roared on again by a boisterous, capacity crowd at the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, Farah surged ahead late and held on Saturday to complete a long-distance double by winning the 5,000 meters in 13 minutes, 41.66 seconds.
He still had the energy to do a few playful sit-ups on the track before he grabbed a British flag for the real celebrations.
The Somali-born Farah won the 10,000 meters on Britain’s “Super Saturday” last weekend.
This Saturday, it was entirely Farah’s moment. Almost nobody left the stadium until Farah was presented with his gold medal.
“It’s unbelievable,” the 29-year-old Farah said. “Two gold medals, who would have thought that?”
Farah took the lead with 700 meters to go, staved off all challenges and, riding constant screams of encouragement, swept away on the home straight. He crossed the finish line with his arms up in triumph, and dropped to his knees.
Dejen Gebremeskel finished strongly to earn silver for Ethiopia in 13:41.98, and Thomas Longosiwa of Kenya took bronze in 13:42.36.
Farah, gave plenty of thanks.
“I want to thank everyone who has supported me, all my coaches from the past, all the people who have been part of my life, particularly my wife,” he said. “Her carrying twins, it hasn’t been easy. It’s been a long journey of grafting and grafting.”
Farah is the seventh man to win both the 5,000 and 10,000 titles at a single Olympics, the first from Britain. He is also the first man to win the Olympic 5,000 title as the reigning world champion.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.