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MOBOT POSE: Mo
Farah claimed a new indoor world record over two miles
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Mo Farah credited his
explosive row with Great Britain team-mate Andy Vernon for inspiring him to the
first world record of his career - and then declared the feat had made him
hungry for more. The double Olympic
champion was roared to a new world indoor best of eight minutes 03.40 seconds
over two miles at the Sainsbury's Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on Saturday.
The 31-year-old, whose public
feud with Vernon had dominated the build-up to the event at the Barclaycard
Arena, let his legs do the talking as wiped more than a second off Kenenisa
Bekele's previous mark. He sat on the shoulder of
Kenya's Paul Koech before hitting the front with seven laps to go and pulling
clear, according to Press Association.
The story continues:
From then on it was Farah
against the clock and he came home comfortably inside Bekele's time of 8mins
04.35secs, which the Ethiopian great set at the same meeting seven years ago.
Farah said: "So many
times I have been asked, 'Am I ever going to break a world record', so it's
nice to say I've done it now.
"I want to be back
on the track, that's where I belong.
"It (the row with
Vernon) inspired me, I wanted to do it. Whatever's happened has happened, we've
got to move on, but at the same time I'm an athlete, that's what I do best. I
just have to keep running."
Farah's previous indoor
best over two miles, the European record from 2012, had stood at 8:08.07.
But, fired up by his feud
with Vernon, which saw Somali-born Farah's claims his team-mate questioned his
nationality branded "lies" by his rival, he went through the first
mile in 4:03.9 and the last one in 3:59.5.
The duo's disagreement
had become public on Tuesday when Vernon criticised the strength of the field
Farah faced in Birmingham and in truth the clock was the Londoner's only real
opponent.
Vernon congratulated
Farah on Twitter, saying: "Everything aside that was a cracking run
@Mo_Farah. Congratulations on the new WR."
But asked if he had a
message for Vernon, Farah said: "No, at the end of the day whatever's done
is done. I just have to move on.
"I think it's too
soon to say anything right now. I've moved on and put that behind me. I want to
keep running well."
Farah, who has five
global track titles over 5,000 and 10,000 metres, said the record had given him
the taste for more outdoors.
"Definitely, it's
about setting myself a goal and knowing what I want out of the year," said
Farah, whose personal bests over 5,000m and 10,000m are some way off Bekele's
world records. It's two different things going for a world record or going for
a championship. I shouldn't get carried away, it's only two miles indoors, but
at the same time it would be nice to be able to do what I can do for 10k, if I
can go close or break it. But I will never give up (on championships). I want
to be able to know I collected as many medals as I could for my country."
Farah
is not competing at the European Indoor Championships in Prague next month, but
Katarina Johnson-Thompson warmed up for her tilt at pentathlon gold with a new
British indoor record of 6.93m to win the long jump.
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