AFTER SUFFERING THE indignity of being denied his first major gold medal in the final strides of the 10,000 metres, Great Britain’s Mo Farah rebounded to take the 5,000m final in the final session of the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea this evening.
The Briton ran a shrewd race at the head of the field in anticipation of threat posed by his main rival for the title, the United States’ Bernard Lagat. When the American mounted a predictable rally in the race’s final lap, Farah stamped his dominance on the race by mounting a stunning home-straight sprint.
The 27-year-old’s teammate, triple jumper Phillips Idowu, was forced to settle for silver in his event, despite recording a jump of 17.77m, a mere four centimetres shy of his personal best.
In the other showpiece event of the evening, the women’s 800m, Olympic champion Caster Semenya was forced to relinquish the title she won comfortably at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin to Russia’s Mariya Savinova.
The Russian, who had previously spoken disparagingly of her South African opponent, referring to her as “a man,” burst into a smile as she crossed the line.
