MO FARAH believes he is the target of an African plot to scupper his Olympic dream.
Farah’s 10,000 metres defence was the hardest run of his life as the Kenyans nearly beat him for a first time in five years.
The Team GB distance hero expects they are teaming up with the Ethiopians to tire him out and end his hopes of a memorable “double-double”.
No British athlete – including stars such as Seb Coe and Daley Thompson – have ever won THREE gold medals on the track before and the 33 year-old is now bidding to become only the second man in history after Lasse Viren in 1976 to retain two Olympic distance titles when he goes for the 5,000m crown this Saturday.
Viren also like Farah in laast weekend’s showdown FELL on the track before winning the 10,000m for the first time in 1972.
He will begin his campaign in the 5,000m heats on Wednesday. He was last beaten at a major championships in Daegu in 2011 when unknown Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilen out-sprinted him to world 10,000m gold in the final lap.
Farah then came back a week later to take the 5,000m world title and has since added eight global crowns to his medal haul. Olympic gold in the 5,000m here would be his NINTH in a row.
But Farah admits: “I wouldn’t surprised if the Ethiopians were told to go as hard they can to tire me out in the 5,000m final so they have a better chance of getting a medal.
“I think they might do something but I don’t know. The guys have had four years of preparation to come up with something to beat me. They’ve seen everything I do. You can’t hide it.
“On Saturday night in the 10,000m the last mile was quick – 4:03. That’s normally what happens in a 5,000m race. So they tried that. I don’t know what the purpose was but the Kenyan Paul Tanui (who got silver) kept pushing.
“I remember seeing one of the Kenyan managers in the warm-up and he was like ‘go, go, go’ to them. That’s why when I was lining up I thought it was going to be a fast race.”
Farah sent out a warning to his Olympic rivals when he stormed to 5,000m victory with a world leading time at the Anniversary Games in London last month. In his last outing on the track before Rio he posted 12: 59.29 back at the Olympic Stadium where he memorably won the distance double at London 2012.
Kenyan coach Julius Kirwa has switched Japan-based Charles Yossei, who was second in the 10,000m at his country’s Olympic trials to the 5,000m, where he joins Commonwealth Games winner Caleb Mwangangi and Isaiah Kiplangat, who finished third behind Farah at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow.
Farah said: “It’s a lot harder than four years ago and part of that is to do with the fact I’m four years older,
“Even in my training there are certain days where I’m supposed to do a session but my body doesn’t allow me to do it.
“So I have to wait for another day. Or I talk to the coaches and say I’m feeling a bit tired and cut my session down a bit. “You’ve just got to be smart. As you get older I find it a little bit harder to recover.
“I just have to recover well between races. I know I’ve done everything in training. Last year at the World Championships in Beijing I I did the 10,000m in a reasonably fast time and then came back for the 5,000m.
“So hopefully it won’t take too much out of me. I just have to save as much energy as I can and not get distracted.
“But doing the double here will be a lot harder than London 2012. A lot harder.
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Farah won the world distance double in Moscow in 2013 and Beijing last summer as well as the Olympic double at London 2012.
He also wants to win a fourth Olympic gold medal for his son Hussein with his three daughters already getting their gongs. Each of the medals has their name engraved on the side.
He said: “I would love to have another medal for my son. The twin girls have got their names on the ones from London and I promised my eldest daughter Rihanna I would get her one here, which is probably what drove me to the line.
“Now I just want to see if I can go out there and win one for Hussein.”
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