Olympics tips: Mo Farah to defend titles after storming march on long-distance rivals

“It’s nice to be able to just be myself and run my own race,” Farah told the British press after his final race to prepare for the Olympics. “It was hard, but it was not a killer. I was satisfied with that one.”

Farah is keen to manage expectations placed upon him, which are understandably high given his long-distance dominance.

“Training is going well, but one thing you can’t forget is it’s harder for me to defend an Olympics,” Farah continued. “The rest of the guys have had four years of preparation so anything could happen.

“They haven’t managed it yet, but I’m going to have three Ethiopians, three Kenyans, three Ugandans. They’re going to try and do anything to beat me.”

Opposition not up to much

As Farah notes, none of the African contingent have found an answer to deny him at an Olympics or World Championships since Ibrahim Jeilan of Ethiopia took Gold over 10000m in Daegu five years ago.

Settling for second place was no shame back then, but would certainly be classed as failure now. That is how high the subsequent standards Farah has set for himself.

With American veteran representative Bernard Lagat still running well in elite company at 41, though, it perhaps highlights how Kenya and Ethiopia don’t quite have the superstars of yesteryear.

Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele’s days are done, and the current crop of Africans haven’t quite lived up to their billing. Find your fortune, then, by backing Farah for another long distance double with Coral.

Related

You’ll find more athletics tips for the Olympics in the run-up to and during it on Coral’s dedicated page.