Beagles ace dedicates gold to daughters

Mo Farah wrote another amazing chapter into the Olympic history books as he added the 5,000m gold to his 10,000m title at these London 2012 Games.

The Newham & Essex Beagles ace held off his rivals in another stunning kick for the line, after a tense tactical battle for 12 and a half laps, to become only the seventh man in Olympic history to complete the long-distance double.

And the 29-year-old dedicated his wins to his two unborn twin daughters, saying: “Those two wins are for my two girls who are coming. The doctors said they could arrive any day.

“It’s just unbelievable. I was confident going into the race, but the heat was a slight worry. There was an American guy that tried to pass me when I was in front, but I knew I just had to stay there.

“I am just amazed. Two gold medals, who would’ve thought that?”

Farah had finished third in his midweek heat, following his superb performance over the longer distance last Saturday.

And he was happy to sit right at the back of the field in a slow-paced start, before Azerbaijan’s Hayle Ibrahmiov jumped to the front on the back straight.

The group remained very closely bunched for the first two laps, with Farah bringing up the rear, before he finally moved to the front on lap four.

American Lopez Lomong took over the front-running duties after the first kilometre, with Farah happy to drop back into the pack, but still within distance of the front group, for the next few laps.

Training partner Galen Rupp came through the field as the race neared its midway point, with Farah’s Beagles teammate Mumin Gala, of Djibouti, also having a spell in pole position.

Ethiopia’s Yenew Alamirew and Kenyans Thomas Longosiwa and Isiah Koech began to crank up the pace in the second half of the race with a real surge of speed and Farah appeared to be boxed in a little bit by his green-vested rivals with five laps remaining.

Taking a wide line to regain a place among the leaders, Farah saw Koech and Longosiwa join him, Alarirew and Gebremeskel, as the British crowd began to find their voice.

And with two laps to go it was anyone’s race, with Farah out in front but with Koech on his shoulder and the Ethiopians lurking, ready to pounce.

The tension was gut-wrenching, as Rupp and Lomong came to the front to try and force their way into contention, and Farah had to put his arm out at the bell as the chase really began to hot up.

The sprint began on the back straight and Farah – who has worked tirelessly on his finishing speed with coach Alberto Salazar – had Longosiwa and Gebremeskel for company coming off the final bend.

But showing amazing strength in the closing stages, just as he had a week earlier, Farah was able to hold his rivals at bay as he completed the last mile of the race in exactly four minutes and crossed the line in 13mins 41.66secs.

After his usual Mo-Bot celebration at the finish line, Farah dropped to the track and mimicked Usain Bolt – who had celebrated his 200m win by doing some press-ups – by completing some sit-ups.

Bolt, after leading Jamaica to the 4x100m gold later in the evening, paid his own tribute with his own Mo-Bot pose.

A delighted Farah said: “I just want to thank everyone that has supported me over the years, all my coaches from the past, all the people who have been part of my life, particularly my wife. Her carrying twins, it hasn’t been easy and I didn’t want to know about it.

“I can’t thank everyone enough. It’s been a long journey of hard work and grafting and it has been amazing. But it just shows you what you can do with hard work and grafting.”