by Larry Eder
Mo Farah wins his final 10,000 meters, London 2017, photo by PhotoRun.net
Updated August 24
After our interview with Mo Farah on August 23, Mo Farah agress that this may have been his finest ever! Watch Mo Farah tonight, August 24, in Zurich as he battles the world!
I wrote this piece on my flight from Brussels to Zurich on Tuesday, August 22, and thought our readers might like to debate this one. Let me know your thoughts!
On 4 August, 2017, in the London Olympic Stadium, the 55,00o in said stadium and hundreds of million of viewers watched the finest 10,000 meters ever run.
Those are not my words, but that of an Olympic medalist who dabbled at that distance.
Twenty five laps on the track, in a world class event is, well, pure hell, if we are to believe those whom I interviewed. From my modest running 25 laps, at 78 seconds a lap was exhausting. These men are averaging 63-64 seconds a lap! That is amazing to watch, and insane to experience.
But, in London, there was one goal: destroy Mo Farrah’s homecoming. The finest runners from Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia tried with all of their might, but they could not break him.
Look at the pace! Brutal changes, as several pretenders to the crown went after Mo Farah. Geoffrey Kamworer sacrificed a medal to challenge Farah.
The 13:33 at 5000 meters, and final 5000 meters in 13:16 tell only half the story. Mo Farrah’s ability to turn on focus, turn off is unique. His god given leg speed, fine tuned so that a 1:49 last 800 meters with a 3:00 last 1200 meters or nearly 4:00 mile is in the cards, needs to be respected.
Truth is this, the 10,000 meters in London was a 25 lap boxing match with the last 400 meters being Mo Farah’s insanely handsome winning kick.
No one was going to defeat him! But, he paid the price. The punctures from spikes required three stitches, the sore muscles, the dehydration and soreness are just part of the equation. Never, as one former WR holder and another, an Olympic medalist both reminded me, have countries tried to defeat one fine runner.
Mo Farah started in 2011 in Daegu with a silver at 10,000m. The lessons he and his team learnt there gave him gold at 5,000 meters in Daegu and kept him undefeated at 10,000m and 5000m for six titles each until his 5000m at London. In the 5,000m, Mo Farah, a wreck, was merely human and won a stupdenous silver. It could have been much worse in the 5000m if he had not kept his wits.
At post event presser, 10,000m, Mo Farah gave media five minutes, as he needed to see his physios. He was banged up and tired. 90 minutes later, I saw Mo and his wife, with Mo finally done with drug testing, a bag of ice taped to his knee, and Mo limping, finally heading to rest after the greatest 10,000m ever run.
