There was no doubt about it: Mo Farah is among the best long-distance runners of all time. The British great produced one of his trademark controlled runs, topped with a blistering finish, to win the 5,000m gold medal on Saturday and cap his second straight Olympic long-distance double.
“It's every athlete's dream but I can't believe it,” the 33-year-old Farah said.
On Saturday, there was no crash to worry about - even though a fall in last week's 10,000 failed to stop him from claiming gold. His unstoppable kick over the last two laps did it this time, and as hard as his two Ethiopian rivals tried to shake him off early, there was no way to deny Farah at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
“You're a target, you're a target. The guys watch you race and they know what you are good at,” Farah said. Farah came into the final stretch in the lead, and that means it's over. His arms open wide, his eyes closed in ecstasy, Farah crossed the line as the first runner in 40 years to win back-to-back long-distance doubles at the Olympics.
Farah already won the 10,000-meter race in Rio to go along with his two gold medals from the same events in London four years ago. The last man to win both distance races in consecutive Olympics was Finnish great Lasse Viren at the 1972 Munich and 1976 Montreal Games.
Farah won in 13 minutes, 3.30 seconds. Paul Chelimo of the United States took silver and Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia got bronze.
