World champion Farah was disappointed with the poor turnout at the stadium. PHOTO: AFP
MOSCOW: Briton Mo Farah continued his impressive track form by claiming a hard-fought victory in the world 10,000m, as Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt cruised through his 100m heat.
Farah, who is attempting to replicate the double 5,000-10,000m gold he claimed at last year’s London Olympics, had a slow race pace, American training partner Galen Rupp and his own definitive race-end kick to thank for his victory.
There was an all-too-familiar finish to the 25-lap race when Ethiopia’s defending world champion Ibrahim Jeilan tried to edge past Farah on the final bend.
Two years ago in the Daegu worlds, Farah wilted into second behind the sprint-clever Ethiopian, but a season dedicated to honing his speed this time paid dividends.
“It was the perfect race for me,” said Farah. “It was quite slow, and the important thing was to stay out of trouble.”
Farah had said that the contrast between his emotional victory in the Olympic 10,000m final and his win in the world final was stark in terms of the crowd, but added he just got on with it.
“It’s hard work. Sometimes it’s just easier to go out in the race and do it like my 1500m race in Monaco where I just went out there and ended up running a personal best.”
Slovenia’s 2008 Olympic men’s hammer champion Primoz Kozmus was bitterly disappointed by the turnout.
“The arena and sector are great. I just hope there will be more of a crowd during tomorrow’s [today] final,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 12th, 2013.
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