Farah has reason to be confident ahead of 10,000 metres final

His good mate Usain Bolt dubbed himself a living legend after winning the 100 and 200 metres at the Beijing and London Olympics. Mo Farah could dream up a few ego boosters if he completes a 5,000 and 10,000 metres double from the Moscow and Beijing world championships.

Mo Farah makes his first bid for gold on Saturday at the Bird’s Nest stadium in the final of the 10,000 metres. Reuters/Dominic Ebenbichler

Farah, 32, claimed the Moscow double a year after winning over both distances at the London Olympics.

Retaining both world crowns has never been done before and it would cap a year which has been punctuated by controversy.

Farah’s coach Alberto Salazar was accused in a British TV documentary of being involved in the doping of his athletes.

Salazar has denied the claims and there is no suggestion that Farah has broken any rules. But he admitted the allegations had affected him.

Whether it has affected his performances on the biggest stage will be put to the test on Saturday night at the Bird’s Nest stadium in the final of the 10,000 metres.

The Somali-born Briton has reason to be confident. He has run the season’s fastest time of 26:50.97.

But he must beware of young Kenyans. The 22-year-old Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor has recorded a personal best this season of 26:52.65 and 24-year-old compatriot Paul Kipngetich Tanui has run the course in 26:51.86.

Those are the only three under 27 seconds this season. The times came from a race at Eugene in Oregon. The Kenyans may well gang up on Farah to make sure he doesn’t relegate them into silver and bronze again.

And if they do that on Saturday night, the question is which of the two would be willing to take a hit to their ego?