For many Mo is Britain’s greatest ever athlete having accumulated ten global titles which includes the ‘double double’ of gold medals over 5,000m and 10,000m at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
Mo Farah is a multiple Olympic, World and European Champion athlete. He has accumulated ten global titles which includes gold medals over 5,000m and 10,000m at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Mo holds numerous European and British Records and has the World Bests for two miles indoors and the One Hour Run.
Mo was a very successful junior athlete, winning the European Junior 5,000m. His major breakthrough came when he won a silver medal in the 5,000m at the European T&F Championships and later in the same year won the European Cross Country Championships.
His career took another step forward with a 5,000m and 10,000m golden double at the European T&F Championships, and then a week later became the first British man to run sub thirteen minutes for the 5000m – setting a British Record time of 12:57.94. Mo became the first British man to win the 5,000m at the World T&F Championships, a few days after winning a silver medal in the 10,000m. He smashed the European 10,000m Record and improved the British 5,000m Record.
Then came the London 2012 Olympics. In his first race, Mo capped off “Super Saturday” by winning the 10,000m gold medal. This was Great Britain’s first ever Olympic gold medal in the 10,000m. One-week later Mo completed the long distance double by winning the 5,000m. His beaming smile and ‘Mobot’ became defining images of the games.
At the 2013 World T&F Championships in Moscow, Mo completed another long distance double in the 5,0000m and 10,000m. He did the same at the European T&F Championships in Zurich. This achievement made him the most successful individual in the history of the European Athletics Championships, with five titles to his name. He then once more repeated the long distance double at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, before ending the season with victory in the Great North Run.
Mo secured his legacy as one of the greatest distance runners of all time at the 2016 Rio Olympics. By winning both the 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals he became just the second athlete to complete the long distance double-double. Victory in the 10,000m was particularly dramatic as Mo accidentally tripped during the race, falling to the floor, and then had to catch up with the leaders before finally winning in an enthralling finish. To round off an incredible year, Mo was knighted in the Queen’s New Year Honours list for services to Athletics.
Mo completed his last track World T&F Championships in front of his home crowd at the London Stadium, where he secured his tenth Gold and second Silver medals at a global championships.
From the track Mo transitioned onto the roads and targeted marathons. He finished third in his first-ever London Marathon before becoming the first British man to win the Chicago Marathon in twenty-two years.
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