Farah denies he had help to win the Great North Run

Mo Farah added the Great North Run to his double Olympic, European and World Championship title successes, after finishing the race one metre ahead of Kenyan training partner Mike Kigen.

Not long after his gruelling victory, he had to refute claims that Kigen took it easy on him, to ensure that he became the first British man to win the prestigious event in 29 years.

Although both runners finished with times of 60 minutes, Kigen led on multiple occasions over the course of an hour, however he appeared reluctant to open up a significant lead.

“Me and Mike train together in Teddington and in Kenya,” Farah explained. “We had a chat before the race and I said: ‘Mike, what we should do is try and go off, leave everybody else and work together to see what we can do.’

“Mike is a great athlete and in great shape. He pushed the pace on and kept pushing and pushing. There were a couple of times I was struggling but I managed to get back to him. I knew if it came down to the finish I could use my sprint finish, but today he actually did test me and I believe he could have run a lot faster if he had people to go with.

“If it wasn’t for how high he thinks of me, he could have really had a go at one point.” When questioned whether Kigen had slowed at any point to let him catch up, the 31-year-old laughed, while responding: “No.”

Kigen also denied reports that he could have won the race replying: “No I couldn’t. I’m happy with second place.” He added: “I was trying to push but I know Farah in the last mile is so strong.”

It is yet unclear whether Farah will compete in the London Marathon, however, he will be keen to add the title to his collection.