2017 World Athletics Championships: Sir Mo Farah wins 10,000m for his 10th global gold medal
Sir Mo Farah won the 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships in London to claim the 10th global gold medal of his career.
Exactly five years on from triumphing on Super Saturday alongside Jessica Ennis-Hill and Greg Rutherford at the London 2012 Olympics, Farah lit up the same venue with another superb performance - arguably his best yet - as his track career heads to a triumphant conclusion.
Farah, who will switch focus solely to road racing at the end of the season, has now won six golds at world championships since 2011 and four Olympic golds - not to mention the five titles he's achieved at European level across the 10,000m and 5,000m.
In a fast-run race which saw his fellow competitors throw everything at him, Farah used his trademark kick off the final bend to get rid of his three remaining rivals before crossing the line in a familiar open-arm style.
Just 40 seconds or so earlier he had suffered a scare as he almost tripped after a coming together with around 300m to go.
However, he recovered his poise to cross the line in 26:49.51 - the fastest time in the world this year.
Joshua Cheptegei, of Uganda, claimed silver, with Kenyan Paul Tanui in third.
The 34-year-old will also bid for an unprecedented third straight long-distance double in world championships history when he runs in the 5,000m final, providing he safely negotiates the heats on Wednesday, next Saturday night. He is 2/5 favourite to win that gold with Sky Bet.
Farah is also a 14/1 Price Boost (from 8/1) to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. Boxer Anthony Joshua is the 8/15 favourite.
"It was one of the toughest races of my life," said Farah. "The guys gave it to me, it wasn't about Mo, it was about 'how do we beat Mo?'
"You had the Kenyans, the Ethiopians, the Ugandans, everybody working as a team against me. Fair play to them, they worked it hard and they chucked everything at me. I just had to stay strong, believe in myself and think, 'I didn't work for nothing, I'm not losing in my home town. I can't'.
"At one point in the middle of the race I wasn't thinking I was going to lose, but I thought 'this is tough, this is tough'.
"I knew at 12 laps to go when they went hard from there it was going to be tough. It was about believing in my sprint finish and knowing that I have been in that position before. It helped a lot having that experience."
Farah hung on during a relentless race which began at a blistering pace with Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor, Tanui, Cheptegei and Timothy Toroitich putting the pressure on at the front.
But Farah, not beaten over 10,000m since 2011, remained comfortable and made his move with a lap-and-a-half to go - and won in a sprint finish ahead of Cheptegei and Tanui.
His focus now moves to the 5,000m heats on Wednesday ahead of next Saturday's final, his last global race before he switches to the marathon, and he is confident he will recover in time.
He added: "I've got a bad leg. I've got such a long stride I got caught twice and at that point I was just trying to stand up. From that I did hurt my leg and I'm going to see a doctor, a few stitches maybe.
"I am hurt. I just had to be strong. I've got a few cuts and bruises, just recover and get ready for the 5k. I've got enough days."
Mo Farah career gold medals
World Championships
London 2017 - 10,000m
Beijing 2015 - 10,000m & 5,000m
Moscow 2013 - 10,000m & 5,000m
Daegu 2011 - 5,000m
Olympic Games
Rio 2016 - 10,000m & 5,000m
London 2012 - 10,000m & 5,000m
European Championships (outdoor)
Zurich 2014 - 10,000m & 5,000m
Helsinki 2012 - 5,000m
Barcelona 2010 - 10,000m & 5,000m
Mo Farah's career in numbers
2 - Farah won an Olympic "double-double", with gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.
3 - He is going for the "triple-double" in World Championships. He won 5,000 and 10,000 gold in 2013 and 2015. He is halfway there in London.
6 - only six athletes - Emil Zatopek, Vladimir Kuts, Lasse Viren, Miruts Yifter, Kenenise Bekele and Farah - have won the distance double in a single Olympics. Viren is the only other man to do so twice, in 1972 and 1976, while Zatopek added the marathon for a unique treble in 1952.
10 - successive wins for Farah in global finals.
12:53.11 - Farah's national record for the 5,000m.
26:46.57 - his 10,000m personal best, a European record.
3 - he has won three successive Great North Runs.
Mo Farah's golden moments
2011 World Championships, Daegu - 5,000m
Having been pipped at the line by the unknown Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan in the 10,000m days earlier, Farah upgraded his silver to gold over the shorter distance, holding off a late charge from American Bernard Lagat.
2012 Olympic Games, London - 10,000m
Farah completed 'Super Saturday' for Great Britain by winning the third of three home gold medals in the Olympic Stadium in one night, kicking away down the home straight to roars from the crowd.
2012 Olympic Games, London - 5,000m
Farah became just the seventh man in Olympic history to achieve the illustrious 5,000m and 10,000m double, resisting a late attack from Ethiopian Dejen Gebremeskel.
2013 World Championships, Moscow - 10,000m
He gained revenge on Jeilan by powering down the home straight to hold off the Ethiopian and claim the only global crown missing from his collection.
2013 World Championships, Moscow - 5,000m
Farah completed the double-double, two world titles to go with his twin Olympic crowns, kicking with 650m to go and holding off a host of challengers down the home straight.
2015 World Championships, Beijing - 10,000m
He put a summer of speculation and rumour behind him to again prove unbeatable on the track, bursting away from the twin Kenyan challenge of Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor and Paul Tanui down the home straight.
2015 World Championships, Beijing - 5,000m
Helped by the slow early pace, he racked up a seventh straight global title and completed the 'triple double', surging past spent Kenyan Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku to take the victory.
2016 Olympic Games, Rio - 10,000m
Farah recovered from a fall after being tripped by training partner Galen Rupp to become the first British track and field athlete to win three Olympic gold medals.
2016 Olympic Games, Rio - 5,000m
Farah avoided any such drama and pulled clear down the home straight, holding off the challenge of American Paul Kipkemoi Chelimo and Ethiopian Hagos Gebrhiwet to become only the second man after Lasse Viren to retain Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m titles.
2017 World Championships, London - 10,000m
This may go down as Farah's greatest success. Tested from the off, he looked to be in trouble at times but found it in him to do the hard yards and then kick for victory on the home straight.
Related links
Bolt 4/11 for gold after heat stutter
London 2017 schedule & daily previews
London 2017 Sky Bet odds