I knew nobody could beat me in the last lap: Mo Farah

Mumbai: The faint murmur inside the conference room eased as the large screen came to life. A video played back memories of Mo Farah’s greatest athletics achievements. There were the two gold medals in the men’s 10,000 m and 5,000 m races from the 2012 London Olympics. There were the crowning moments as he defended those titles in Rio four years later, celebrating with his famous Mobot pose.

But on stage a few minutes later, Farah recalled a memory of him staring at a television screen – one that set him on a path to becoming one of the greatest runners to have graced an athletics track.

“It was that moment at the Sydney Olympics (in 2000) when it came down to the strong finish between Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat at the 10,000m final,” said Farah, who is the event ambassador at this year’s Tata Mumbai Marathon. “I went, ‘wow, I want to become an Olympic champion.’ That was my mindset (there on).”

Along with the four Olympic triumphs are six World Championship gold medals. But amidst the glitter of the titles and the glamour that came with the wins, Farah recalled his harsh beginnings.

Born in Somalia, his father was killed during a civil war when he was four. By the time he was nine, he was sent to England as a victim of child trafficking.

“I really struggled,” he said. “Not speaking a word of English, running is what saved me. It gave me a place to be happy, to be a child. I got into a running club and from there, I started to make friends and enjoy myself. I had the talent, but I got a chance to laugh.”

Forced to work as a domestic help, Farah was uncared for until his talent on the athletics track was spotted by his physical education teacher Alan Watkinson. The chance meeting with Watkinson is what changed the course of Farah’s journey.

“I was neglected as a child, a very disruptive kid because I didn’t know how to communicate with people,” he recalled. “If I didn’t have (Watkinson) in my life, it would be very hard to see myself become successful, or even be able to survive.”

Watkinson became the father-figure for Farah, and the teacher helped him find some direction in his life. From being illegally trafficked into Great Britain, Farah became the most successful male track distance runner.

His dominance had reached such a stage in the first half of the 2010s that he was virtually unbeatable in the 5,000 and 10,000m races. He won 10 consecutive major meets from the gold in the shorter race at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, to the 10,000m gold at the 2017 Worlds in London.

Farah asserted that it took a lot of training and planning to achieve that dominance.

“You need to do your research about each race – what were the timings, how do you run the last (kilometre), but also build yourself better than anyone else,” he added.

“I knew that at any point, when it came to the last lap, nobody could have (beat) me. That’s what I worked in during training. I always told myself that I have that little extra left (towards the end). I was confident about that.”

Among all his titles however, it was the first Olympic gold that he holds as his proudest achievement.

“The first gold was the most important thing because that’s what you’re trying to achieve as an athlete. And to do it, I get to say ‘I am the Olympic champion,’” he said.

The twin-triumphs at the London Olympics however changed the way he was perceived as a competitor.

“I had a target on my back in each race,” he said.

“Athletes wanted to beat Mo Farah in every race. But when you’ve got someone who wants to beat you, you deal with everything like it’s your last day, you don’t take it for granted. That’s what keeps you above others.”

Right till the very end of his career on the track, he managed to stay above the rest. In his penultimate race, his streak of 10 major golds was broken when Muktar Edris of Ethiopia beat him to gold in the men’s 5,000m race at the 2017 Worlds.

Barely two weeks later though, he would meet Edris again at the 2017 Diamond League Final.

“After the Worlds, I was tired and for 10 days I just rested. But in the (Diamond League Final), I gave it everything. I knew that was my last race,” he added.

He explained that his hunger on the track had diminished and he sought a new way to rekindle his love for athletics. He found it in the marathon. It proved to be difficult.

Although he did manage to win the Chicago Marathon in 2018, setting a new European record in the process, he struggled in the long-distance road race.

But that would never be the way Farah’s career is remembered. From being the neglected child illegally smuggled into a new country he turned into one of the most prominent runners the sport has ever seen.