Mo Farah has been warned to expect an almighty battle with his Kenyan rivals in the defence of his 5 000 metres title at the World Championships today.
If he is able to win a second gold medal in eight days, after taking the 10 000m crown last Saturday, Farah will become the first man to have done the distance double at an Olympics and two consecutive World Championships.
Not even Haile Gebrselassie or Kenenisa Bekele, whose five gold medals will be equalled by Farah should he triumph today, can boast such an achievement.
But the 32-year-old will have to overcome a formidable group of East Africans conspiring to thwart him including Caleb Ndiku, who won gold in Farah’s absence at the Commonwealths last summer. He has struggled with injury recently but set a season’s best of 13min 19.58sec in the heats, with Farah advancing to the final in 13:19.44.
‘All I know is Farah is beatable,’ said Ndiku, ‘You can’t outsprint him but you have to beat him tactically. If my body and God allow me, I will give Farah a battle.’
After the 10,000m, Farah said he felt ‘picked on’ by a Kenyan trio who he suspected of working together to tire him out. The Olympic champion is likely to get more of the same in the 5,000m, with Ndiku revealing he and his Kenyan team-mates have a surprise in store for the Briton.
‘We are planning something for Farah but I am not going to tell you,’ said Ndiku. ‘He hangs on for the better part of the race before outsprinting his competitors in the final lap. Anybody can win the race in the last 400m if he plans well. You need brains and power to be on the podium.’
Usain Bolt and drugs cheat Justin Gatlin clash again in the 4x100m relay today, with Bolt insisting he is fully recovered from being mowed down by a Segway after winning 200m gold on Thursday. ‘Hopefully the old man is tired,’ Bolt, 29, said of 33-year-old Gatlin. – Daily Mail