Farah claims dramatic 10,000m gold medal in Russia

MOSCOW - Reuters

Gold medallist Mo Farah of Britian poses during the men's 10,000 metres victory ceremony at the IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Luzhniki stadium in Moscow August 10, 2013. REUTERS Photo

Olympic champion Mo Farah won the 10,000 metres gold medal at the World Championships in Moscow.

Briton Farah, who stole the hearts of the British public with his double distance success over 10,000m and 5,000m at London 2012, sprinted home from Ibrahim Jeilan to win in 27 minutes 21.72 seconds.

Ethiopian Jeilan, who beat Farah to gold in Daegu in South Korea in 2011, looked to chase him down - but Farah’s rapid pace down the final stretch saw him triumph.

“I had the experience from two years ago,” Somalia-born Farah told the BBC.

“I knew I just had to cover every move and the guys were going to go out there to take a lot out of me. I was just digging in, digging in.

“I saw him coming and it was important to have something left. I didn’t want to lose again. A couple of years ago I was second. I kept looking across…

“I only realised I had won when I crossed the line.”

Jeilan’s time of 27:22.23 put him less than half a second clear of Kenya’s Paul Tanui in the bronze medal position.

Hot favourite Farah won the 5,000m gold at the 2011 championships to go with his 10,000m silver. That left the world 10,000m gold the only one of the four top distance titles - including the Olympics - he had not previously won.

“It was nice to come out here and win it and that was the one missing,” he added. “I’ve been training really hard and spent a lot of time away from the family.

“Winning makes it more tasty because as a parent you don’t want to be away from your kids.”

Farah, who was competing in his first race over the distance since winning gold in London Games, looked calm and collected throughout the final on a sultry evening at the Luzhniki stadium.

Knowing he could outsprint the opposition, Farah was happy to settle into the pack for most of the race, leaving the Kenyans and Ethiopians to set the pace before making his move on the penultimate lap.

The 30-year-old, who plans to defend his 5,000 metres title, moved to the front and began to wind up the pace but there was still a leading group of six at the bell.

Farah kicked again and was followed by Jeilan but coming down the home straight the Ethiopian knew he was beaten.