Farah — golden Somalian import

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

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PARIS: Mo Farah’s wife Tania is due to give birth to twins in September, but whether the Somalia-born athlete pursues his own dream of double Olympic gold will depend on how he fares first up in the 10,000 metres.

The 28-year-old — who came to England aged eight after being brought up in Djibouti — comes to the Games having become the first athlete to successfully defend his 5,000 metres European title in Helsinki last month.

Farah, who also became the first British male athlete to win a world distance title when he landed the 5,000m in Daegu last year after taking silver in the 10,000m, has, however, made the 10,000m his priority for the simple reason it is first on the schedule.

“I am going to run the 10,000 for sure because it is the first race,” Farah said after winning the 5,000 at the Diamond League’s Prefontaine Classic.

“I will see how I feel after that. It depends how I come off in the 10,000. I would like to be fresh and not have any niggles.”

It is questionable whether Farah would have got this far but for two seminal influences on his life once he was in England — his school PE teacher Alan Watkinson and British great Paula Radcliffe.

Understandably speaking little English on his arrival in England, Farah had a hard introduction on his first day at school when he made the mistake of saying ‘C’mon then’ to the toughest guy in his class.

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