Mo Farah came through one of the toughest 10,000 metres of his career to win gold at the World Athletics Championships on Friday and said it was his mental strength that had made the difference. The 34-year-old won his sixth world championship gold medal in a blistering 10,000 that had the entire crowd at the London Stadium on their feet.
In a brief news conference afterwards, sandwiched between two treatment sessions, the Briton said that his victory had come at a cost. "It was one of the toughest races of my life. I had to dig deep with 1,600 metres to go and think don't let the gap go, try and cover every move and just try and be strong," he said. "And then with one lap to go I nearly get tripped, twice, that was hard. But I just had to be mentally stronger and think I didn't work this hard for nothing and come out."
Farah said he could not field many questions due to his "bad legs" and looked in some discomfort when standing up. He said it was a trip around the 300m mark that had caused the issue. "I've got such long strides that I got caught and at that point I was just trying to stand up and think I can't go down, I can't go down. But from that fall I did actually hurt my leg but I'm going to see the doctor now and take care of it - a few stitches maybe," he said jokingly.
Farah is hoping the injury is not too severe as he is due to race in the 5,000m heats on Wednesday. Should he get through to Saturday's final, Farah would have the chance to secure a third successive distance double at a world championships.
