Mo Farah wins triple-double with 5,000m world championship gold

Mo Farah, who completed another glorious 5,000m and 10,000m double – and won his seventh consecutive world and Olympic title – after chasing down the Kenyan Caleb Ndiku in a thrilling final lap chase.


Which means Farah has completed a historic triple-double – having also won the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the 2012 Olympicsand 2013 world championships, and having already won the 10,000m title in Beijing.

“It is great to make history,” Farah told the BBC trackside. “I didn’t feel great, my hamstring was playing up a bit but the medical team helped me through it and to make a double means so much to me. I was getting nervous for the first time in a little while but thanks to all the medical team. It was amazing to do it.”

On being called the greatest British sportsman by the commentator Brendan Foster, Farah said: “We had people such as David Beckham and the rest of the guys, we have had so many legends and to be in the same category as them is amazing. If you believe in something you can get there. Do what you can.

“I never doubt myself. I love the sport, I love what I do and I just want to continue that. Everything comes with obstacles and you just have to get them out of the way.”

Usually Farah’s rivals let a championship middle-distance race turn into a prolonged sprint. Not this time. After a painfully slow mile, during which Farah was content to sit right at the back as his team-mate Tom Farrell jogged away at the front of the pack, the race began to smoulder until with 800m to go it burst into life.