Great British Heroes: Time to back Mo for more Olympic success
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The 2016 Olympic Games get underway in Rio de Janeiro in just two months time, and after the huge success of Team Great Britain in London four years ago, hopes are high for plenty more success this summer. Mo Farah was just one such hero in 2012, and he’s recently offered even more reasons for us to believe that he could claim more gold medals in Brazil.
Farah, competing in Birmingham’s Diamond League meeting on Sunday, soared through the 3,000m event in 7:32.62 seconds, to shave 0.17 seconds off David Moorcroft’s time from 1982 and set a new GB record.
The 33-year-old now holds every British record from 3,000m to the 10,000m, and even boasts the 1,500m, but it’s the latest achievement which will have eased any doubts Farah had about claiming two golds in Brazil this summer.
For all of those national records however, some don’t see Farah as a great until he breaks one on a global scale.
One of those critics is Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele – holder of both the 5,000m and 10,000m world records – who has claimed Farah will only be considered an all-time great if he can take one of those records away from him.
But the Briton isn’t letting records become a distraction, as he seeks to defend his titles from those famous nights in London four years ago.
Speaking after Sunday’s event, Farah said: “Have you seen them? (The records). You have to be realistic.”
“It’s all one year at a time. This year is all about Rio.”
It’s clear Farah seeks medals over records, and he’s well placed to defend his 10,000m title this summer.
The opposition have been handed little support in the 5,000m either, with Farah well-fancied to win that event too.
Even more concerning for Farah’s rivals, is that the popular Brit has already pledged to end his track career after 2017, meaning he’ll be giving it everything he’s got to ensure he lands the 5k and 10k double while he still can.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
