History was made! The British press on Mo Farah's win.

[MoonLight1]

The Daily Telegraph

 

Mo Farah makes history as first British man to take gold in Olympic 10000m

It will be a picture to live with British athletics for ever and a day. Mo Farah, open-mouthed, eyes bigger than saucers, banging himself on the head with both hands four times, unable to believe that he had just put the golden crown on the most fantastic day in his country’s Olympic history.

 

He had just sprinted into athletics legend with what must go down as the most accomplished, perfectly executed and dazzling track triumphs by any British athlete in Olympic annals. So, yes, why not? It really was time for the “Mobot”, that daft bonce-slapping ritual, to go quite global.

 

When you have a night like this, so surreal that you can barely take it all in, it seems almost unfair to pick a favourite moment.

 

Yet after 100 years of attempting to win a global gold medal in the longest track discipline, it felt utterly perfect that here in the land of the harrier, Britain’s greatest male endurance runner should deliver at last in a home Games. With a practically perfect race.

 

ncredibly, no Briton has won an Olympic distance event since Emil Voigt landed the gold in 1908 here in London in the five miles, an event now completely redundant.

 

And what a way for Farah to deliver. Not only did he outsprint the best in the world with his searing and courageous last lap of 53.48sec but he had done so by defeating simply the finest distance runner the sport had ever seen.

 

Kenenisa Bekele gave it everything, pushing for a third consecutive Olympic crown but when Farah decided to push the button with 450 agonising metres to go, the mighty Ethiopian was left trailing in his slipstream.

 

There was no argument, no excuses. This was a passing of the torch, Bekele beaten for the first time in a 10,000m race that he had completed. There is no question now about the world’s finest distance man.

 

There really are not many more difficult events to win in the entire Games than the 25-lap classic and you cannot overstate the difficulty of the task for Farah, in the first 10,000m since he was defeated at the World Championships in Daegu last year, to have to cope with the mental and physical toll of this contest.

 

The Eritreans, Ethiopians and Kenyans all worked their wiles, all enjoyed nudging and trying to put him off his elegant stride in the early exchanges as the 29-strong field chopped and changed, yet every change of pace, every little bit of intimidation was serenely ignored by the Londoner.

 

Farah just kept to his own path, his own steady pace to ensure that when the leaders started to crank up the speed ever more relentlessly, he covered the key moves expertly.

 

Then came the perfect moment to strike. This took rare nerve. Last year, he kicked 50m further out and was hunted down in a sprint finish by the little-known Ethiopian, Ibrahim Jeilan.

 

This time, with 450m left, he hit the button marked glory and began to stretch away from his pursuers. It was agonising to watch, because each time it looked as if he was about to push away decisively, the gap seemed to become breachable again.

 

“With 200m to go, I had to push it again,” Farah reckoned. And as he hit the home straight, the final danger, ironically, came from his Oregon training partner and one of his best buddies, American Galen Rupp, who has a devastating finishing kick.

 

They had been working together earlier as a mini team to counter the African trios ganging up on them and, Farah admitted, had agreed “it would be every man for himself” if it came down to a sprint finish.

 

But inspired by the crowd’s roars, Farah was never going to be caught and surged further and further clear to win in 27min 30.42sec, almost half-a-second clear of Rupp (27-30.90). The Bekele boys came in third and fourth, Tariku taking bronze and Kenenisa finishing some two seconds behind Farah in fourth.

 

Farah looked to the skies. “Did I really finish first?” he asked himself, before he ended up embracing wife, Tania, and daughter, Rihanna, at trackside and was allowed to pinch himself. Then it dawned. “This was the greatest moment of my life,” he said.

 

An amazing journey had been completed which had lasted much, much longer than 10,000m, a journey which took an eight-year-old boy all the way from Mogadishu, Somalia, via Djibouti after civil war had broken out in his native land, to London and now to the top of the world.

 

And if it really was his finest moment, what price now that he could yet have another one to rival it next Sunday when he aims to finish these Games by joining the immortals?

 

Five men have won both the Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m titles in the same Games: Hannes Kolehmainen, Vladimir Kuts, Lasse Viren, Miruts Yifter and Bekele. Who could possibly now bet against the 29 year-old, who sets out on Wednesday in the heats, accompanying them in the pantheon?

 

“To win the Olympic Games in my home city is beyond words. This is my home, this is where I grew up,” he said.

 

And this is where a mischievous kid became a legend, a good lad who also turned into one of the greatest runners these isles of wonder have ever embraced. Go, Mo, it is your time!

 

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/athletics/9452918/Mo-Farah-makes-history-as-first-British-man-to-take-gold-in-Olympic-10000m.html

[MoonLight1]

The Sun

 

Fantastic Farah flies to victory

 

MAGNIFICENT Mo Farah stormed to victory in the 10,000 metres last night — and vowed to win a SECOND gold for his twin daughters who are due next month.

 

Mo became Team GB’s first male runner to win a 2012 medal and now has his eyes on the 5,000 metres, which starts on Wednesday.

 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prime Minister David Cameron were among 80,000 fans roaring the 29-year-old Somali-born hero across the line.

 

MAGNIFICENT Mo Farah stormed to victory in the 10,000 metres last night — and vowed to win a SECOND gold for his twin daughters who are due next month.

 

Mo became Team GB’s first male runner to win a 2012 medal and now has his eyes on the 5,000 metres, which starts on Wednesday.

 

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prime Minister David Cameron were among 80,000 fans roaring the 29-year-old Somali-born hero across the line.

 

 

And after embracing wife Tania and step-daughter Rihanna, seven, he said: “It’s never going to get any better than this, it’s the best moment of my life.

 

“It was amazing, my legs were getting tired but the crowd gave me a huge lift.

 

“If it wasn’t for the crowd and the support — shouting my name and putting up Union Jacks — I wouldn’t have won.”

 

Mo — the first Brit to win the 10,000 metres — vowed not to talk to wife Tania yesterday so he could focus on the race.

 

But he joyfully draped his arms around her as he celebrated his marvellous win in 27 minutes 30.42 seconds.

 

Looking forward to the 5,000 metres, he added: “I’m going for two medals so it would be great to be able to give the twins one each. That would be amazing.”

 

Mo had earlier seen Jessica Ennis take gold — and used her win to inspire him.

 

He revealed: “I saw Jess as I was doing a few strides and had this feeling, ‘Yeah, I want to win a gold too’.

 

“I was really buzzing when I walked into the stadium, like I’d had ten cups of coffee. I knew I just had to do something because I was so pumped up.”

 

Mo, born in war-torn Mogadishu, was only eight when he was brought to Britain. The only English he knew was “Where’s the toilet?” and “Excuse me”. The family settled in Hounslow, Middlesex, where he attended the Isleworth and Syon School. It was there that his raw talent was spotted.

 

The delighted champion said landing gold in the capital was extra special.

 

Mo, who moved to Oregon, US, with his family last year to step up his training for the Games added: “I came here as a young boy from Somalia but this is where I grew up, in London, and to win it here means so much to me.

 

“This is my country and when I put on my Great Britain vest I am very proud.”

 

 

Before yesterday’s race he joked that Tania might give birth to the twins during the Olympics, saying: “At least they would be born at the stadium — and there will be a team doctor around.”

 

Source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/olympics/4472332/Mo-Farah-wins-gold-in-Olympic-victory-at-London-2012.html

[MoonLight1]

The Guardian

 

Mo Farah joins long-distance Olympic greats as he sprints into record books

In an Olympics where athletes aged 15 have been scooping golds, the astonishing 29-year-old Mo Farah has just kept getting faster

 

 

 

Truly amazing. During the last lap, roared on by 80,000 spectators, Mo Farah entered the graced zone that every athlete dreams of, winning the men's 10,000m with a marvellous sprint flourish. He also ran into the record books, becoming the first Briton to win the event, securing the nation's sixth gold medal of the day.

 

His delight was complete when he turned around after crossing the line and saw his friend and training partner, American Galen Rupp take silver.

 

A medal of any metal would have been a triumph in this 10,000m. Farah was racing against the cream of the world's great distance running countries, Ethiopia and Kenya.

 

A rainbow-coloured squadron set off at a comfortable pace, the green and yellow of the Ethiopian Bekele brothers leading at the front with Farah tucked in comfortably behind. Farah had fallen back to ninth at the halfway mark with Eritrean, Zersenay Tadese in the lead.

 

In an Olympics where 15-year-olds win gold and 23-year-olds talk of retirement, you might have thought the 29-year-old Farah was well past his sell-by date. But distance running has always been a world unto itself, and over the past year the Somali-born Briton has been getting faster and faster. As 2012 approached, it looked as if the current world champion was coming into his prime.

 

For most of his career Farah has been unable to challenge the supremacy of the east Africans. He was in danger of plateauing, content with a level of achievement that was hugely admirable – the top distance runner in Europe – but way off the world's best. Former middle-distance Olympic medallist Steve Cram summed it up well when he said: "Mo has always been a good runner, but he became a great runner when he decided finishing in the top 10 in the world was not good enough."

 

The previous non-Ethiopian winner was 20 years ago. Tariku and his older brother Kenenisa Bekele – who finished third and fourth in Saturday's the race – come from Bekoji, a tiny village-town 140 miles south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

 

Farah moved to London, to live with his English father, before he had the chance to run competitively in Africa. He spoke little English, and the few words he did know didn't help. One of the only expressions he knew was "C'mon then!" He tried it out on one of the boys at school and came home with a black eye. The young Farah could turn his hand or foot to pretty much anything. He was skinny and strong — not much different from today except for the trademark goatee.

 

His PE teacher realised he had a particular talent for running, and mentored him. Alan Watkinson also realised early on what Farah responded to — bribes. After he finished ninth at the English Schools Cross Country Championships, in 1996, he told him that if he won the following year he'd buy him an Arsenal kit. Farah won.

 

Watkinson was not only one to champion Farah. When he was 17, Paula Radcliffe paid for his driving lessons so that he could travel to training nights. London Marathon race director David Bedford also helped — the London Marathon Charitable Trust bankrolled Farah's education at St Mary' University College, Twickenham, and Bedford introduced Farah to Alberto Salazar, the maverick American coach credited with Farah's astounding recent progress.

 

The turning point in Farah's career was when he started to take himself seriously. As a young man his main claim to fame was jumping naked off Kingston bridge into the Thames.

 

In 2005, he moved into a house with a group of Kenyans, and had a revelation – to be seriously good, you need to be seriously committed.

 

He was in the habit of going to bed at 2am and sleeping through the morning, and discovered his flatmates were in bed for nine and up at six. His mantra became eat, train, sleep.

 

By 2010 he had won double gold at 5,000m and 10,000m at the European championship, but his time at the longer distance (28min 25sec) was still more than two minutes slower than Bekele's current world record.

So Farah set off for Kenya to train at high altitude. He ran 100 miles a week, ate, trained and slept some more, and knocked more than 90 seconds off his European championship 10,000m time. Last year he set off again – this time moving his family (his wife Tania has a seven-year-old daughter Rihanna, and is expecting twins) to Portland Oregon where Salazar introduced him to underwater treadmills and cryogenic chambers, and tried to build up his upper body strength, and eradicate a tendency towards bobbing arms.

 

By now Farah was taking his work so seriously that he walked away from his honeymoon when stranded in Nairobi because of the volcanic ash cloud — he returned to the high altitude while Tania and Rihanna made their own way home.

 

Two years later, they were close by as Farah ran the race of his life in London, as were tens of thousands of fans who threw up a huge roar of "Mo-Mo-Mo-Mo-Mo," ordering him on to victory. With one lap to go it was Farah and Kenenisa. Farah kicked and the roaring grew louder.

 

Then it was over. Farah kissed his hands, held his head, and wrapped himself in a union flag. Tania walked on to the track, Rhianna ran on, and he threw her in her arms. The three posed for the cameras. Bowie's Heroes played for the second time in the evening and the greatest night in British athletics came to a dream end.

 

 

Source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/05/mo-farah-wins-olympic-gold

[MoonLight1]

The Independent

 

Farah kicks to glory and seals our finest day

10,000m winner embraces pregnant wife after securing Team GB's sixth gold on Super Saturday

 

With his arms outstretched on either side like a bird of prey as he crossed the line, Mo Farah yesterday buried the ghost of Beijing, scooping gold in a heart-pounding men's 10,000m final and cementing his place as one of Britain's greatest track athletes of all time. No other British man has ever succeeded like this over this distance at the Olympics.

 

 

The 29-year-old rolled to his knees and kissed the track twice, finishing first after leading the field throughout the final lap. It marked the pinnacle of a dream that was set as an eight-year-old when he came to London from the streets of Mogadishu with just three phrases of English.

 

It was high drama for his wife Tania, too. She is seven months pregnant, and the couple are expecting twins. Somehow still composed at the end, she walked across the track to greet Farah with a proud embrace after he had pulled himself from the ground, still shaking his head in disbelief. Their daughter Rihanna had already bounded on with a union flag for a picture to treasure and one that British long-distance running commentators could be forgiven for wondering if they'd ever see.

 

Farah had simply run away from the rest. Galen Rupp, his US training partner, who won silver, and the bronze medallist Tariku Bekele and his brother, Kenensisa, were unable to keep pace in a thrilling finish.

 

"The Olympics doesn't come around often," said Farah, "and to have it on your doorstep, right here: it's never going to get better than this. It's the best moment of my life..

 

"Long distance is a lonely event: what you put in is what you get out. I want to thank everybody who has supported me from my childhood. There are too many people to thank, but I want to thank everybody who is associated with me."

 

Born in war-torn Somalia in 1983, Farah grew up in neighbouring Djibouti. Contrary to popular belief, he is not a refugee: his grandfather worked in a bank and his British-born father was an IT consultant.

 

Alan Watkinson, the runner's former PE teacher, recalled his first days at Feltham Community College. "You could see his physical talent straightaway," he told The Independent on Sunday. "He was gangly, but I remember the sheer ease with which he glided; his strides were effortless and he always looked very comfortable keeping pace with the fastest in the school.

 

"Did I think he was capable of becoming a world-beater? It was hard to tell. He was fast but his talent was yet to be honed. He did get beaten in his first school cross-country race."

 

The seeds of athletic success, Watkinson says, were planted as a teenager when he accompanied Mark Lewis-Francis and Tim Benjamin to a future training camp in Florida. When he returned, his demeanour seemed more assured. I remember him telling me 'I definitely feel like an athlete now'."

 

Farah won a £10,000 National Lottery grant to take up running full time and moved into a house shared with leading Kenyan runners, including the 5,000m world champion Benjamin Limo.

 

Paula Radcliffe is said to be one of his mentors and someone who "helps him mentally". He broke down in tears after spotting her two years ago when he won the 5,000m crown at the European Championships in Barcelona. At the European Championships in 2006, Radcliffe apparently told Farah: "Be brave." He later won the silver medal.

 

Their relationship has been a fruitful one ever since. Radcliffe has been involved in some key decisions, not least advising him on his move to the United States 18 months ago, when he linked up with American coach Alberto Salazar. "There's no doubt that Oregon has put the finishing touches on him; it has certainly given him the confidence of a world beater," says Watkinson.

 

There have been disappointments along the way, too. Farah agonisingly missed out on 10,000m gold at the World Championships in Daegu last year, when an athlete he knew nothing about – Ethiopia's Ibrahim Jeilan – outsprinted him in the final few metres to win by 0.26 seconds. It was enough to reopen old wounds of 2008 when he failed to reach the final of the 5,000m at the Beijing Olympics, a failure he described as "the most disappointed I've ever been in my life".

 

But it has also spurred him to greater things. Since that defeat, Farah has left little to chance, crediting his new coach and training regime in America, which helped him seal a number of wins, including gold in the 5,000m at the 2011 World Championships in South Korea and a silver medal in the 10,000m.

 

 

Source: http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/athletics/farah-kicks-to-glory-and-seals-our-finest-day-8008064.html

[Che -Guevara]

Good for him and all Somali Brits-a nice change from awful headlines of drunken girls, gangs and welfare cheaters.

[Khayr]

Finally a Somali in the news for good thing. So today, all your Somalis in Britain are British. Just don't efff it up tomorrow, or else you are all back to Somali refugee status.

 

Kudos, to Farah!

[Abwaan]

I would like to see Mo Farah be an advocate, guide more for the Somali youth in GB. I know he sort of has been in the past, although not enough due to his busy schedule and preparations for his successes and acheivements like the one on yesterday, but more effort is needed now. Somali yputh should also use him as an example that they also could aim for higher. He should use his experience and background to do more for his community. Examples? Visit to Feltham prison, appear on Somali tournaments and visit schools.

He also needs to travel to Southern Somalia, Keynaan went to both North and South. And also visit Dhadhaab, ma 50 Cent buu ka liitaa?

 

Horta maba laga yaabaa inuu SOL member ka yahay, meeshaan dad badan baa is qariya, yaaba is yaqaan for real, may be his friends....I know that one of my cousins is friends with him, I never met Mo Farah.

[Abwaan]

He really is a good guy who respects and cares about his people. Here is an interview he gave the BBC Somali Section:

 

 

 

Congrats to Mohamed Farah!

[Abtigiis]

Abwaan, thanks for posting the BBC interview. I am liking this guy even more. Wish he gets the double.

[N.O.R.F]

Some great headlines. Off to the shop to buy all the papers.

[Ibtisam]

The missing headline is: Nick Griffin choked on his dinner when he heard Mo Farah won for Britain.

He has been rushed to hospital. An Asian doctor is treating him.

[Abwaan]

Abtigiis;854622 wrote:

Abwaan, thanks for posting the BBC interview. I am liking this guy even more. Wish he gets the double.

You are welcome Abtigiis...I thought it was a good video that I needed to share.

[Abwaan]

*Ibtisam;854657 wrote:

The missing headline is: Nick Griffin choked on his dinner when he heard Mo Farah won for Britain.

He has been rushed to hospital. An Asian doctor is treating him.

lol Ibti.....for thise who do not remember or know Nick, he is the British Cunsuri Party leader. I bet it would take days for nick to acheive what Mo Farah did less than half an hour.

[aero]

I can't pin point his accent. Is it northern, garam garam, or konfureed? LOL

[Abwaan]

It is fish and chips+Northern accent but he really did well in this interview.