British athlete Mo Farah became the second man to win both the long distance titles at two separate Olympic Games following addition of 5000m gold to his 10 000m victory from Saturday`s games on August 20.
Farah joins Finland’s Lasse Viren in the elite club, storming to victory in 13:03.30 on the final night of athletics, beating US athlete Paul Chelimo into second place, while Hagos Gebrhiwet came third.
Farah becomes the only British track and field athlete to win four gold medals and takes Team GB’s tally to 27 at Rio 2016.
An ecstatic Farah said: “There are no words to really describe it. The crowd were good to me.
“Mentally I had to be on top of my game – the guys were out there to get me – so I just had to be alert. You saw me sat at the back, but it wasn’t an easy last five lap burnout. The guys pushed on and on.
“At the beginning I felt a bit tired but I got going again. I went to the front and I know the guys were thinking about me, so I controlled the race. I wasn’t going to let anyone past me. Then just at the end I used my speed.
“You’ve got to do your homework [on your opponents]. That’s what I’ve done over the years. I haven’t won just medals, I’ve come sixth and seventh. To come back year after year to win is pretty amazing.
“I’m not so good at the marathon, to be honest, that was hard for me. It’s a different pain and a different challenge. In 2017 I’d like to be able to go onto the track in London but after that I’ll go onto the road for a couple of marathons.
“I owe it to the people in London to race at home, but I don’t know which event.”
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