Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah has confirmed he will skip the 5,000m at the Tokyo Games next summer. Farah, 37, won 5,000m and 10,000m gold at the 2012 London Olympics and Rio Games in 2016 before shifting his focus to marathons. He had confirmedhe would defend his 10,000m titleat the rescheduled Games. "I'm getting on a bit, and I think the key thing is to stick to one event and see what I can do," Farah toldSportsound Extra Time.

Wednesday September 16, 2020

Mo Farah broke the one-hour world record on his return to the track in Brussels earlier in September

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On his return to the track, Farah broke the one-hour world record at the Diamond League meeting in Brussels on 4 September.

He followed that up by dominating the Antrim Coast Half Marathon in Northern Ireland on Saturday, narrowly missing out on breaking his own British record.

"I'm definitely motivated, I'm still hungry and I still want it more," added Farah on the bid to become the first athlete to win the 10,000m in three consecutive Olympics.

"It would be history, and I've already made history in terms of long distance and I was the first British athlete to achieve back-to-back Olympics [titles]," he added.

"I have to keep enjoying it, keep smiling and I love what I do. It's going to be hard but it is possible."

'We're all human'

In his aim to make more Olympic history, Farah admits inspiring the next generation of athletes "drives me on every day".

"Anything is possible if you work hard, you can achieve it," he said.

"I remember as a young kid, arriving from Somalia at the age of eight and not speaking a word of English, if someone had said to me that I would win so many medals, be knighted by the Queen and be called Sir Mo Farah - I wouldn't believe any of it.

"It just shows that anything is possible if you work hard."

In February, the six-time world champion faced questions of his relationship with banned former coach Alberto Salazar - which Farahdenied and called "not fair"- but says that criticism and scrutiny is "part of the sport".

"Sometimes you have a bad race, sometimes a good race, and you go through different emotions," added Farah.

"No matter what you do, it will be there, but you can't let that get to you.

"You have to enjoy what you do. You have to put in the work and continue to run. Do I have an off day? Yes. Do I have good days? Yes. We're all human.

"Don't let that take away from what you do, or change you. As long as I can be myself and have a laugh, put in the work and continue to achieve - that's what drives me every day."