London (AFP)
The Olympic champion, British sprinter Mo Farah, confirmed that his track career is over, but he will participate in the London Marathon scheduled for next October to determine his readiness to compete on the roads.
And the 39-year-old compared himself to the former Scottish first-ranked tennis player Andy Murray, considering that the latter still has a “fighting spirit” inside him.
However, it seems that the number one obstacle to Farah will be his body’s ability to meet the needs of his mind.
Farah moved to marathon competitions (he won in Chicago and came third in London in 2018), after winning the gold medal in the 5000m and 1000m races at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
He returned to the track in 2020 in pursuit of a fifth Olympic title, but emerged as the ghost of the sprinter who frightened his rivals and failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Things have not improved for the British sprinter this year, as he unexpectedly lost to Ellis Cross on his return to the 10,000m race in London in May.
However, the Somali-born sprinter and the owner of extraordinary achievements on the track, did not retire and decided to test himself in the London Marathon on the second of October, to participate a month earlier in the “Big Half” race for a distance of 21.1 km.
Farah told the Daily Mirror: ‘Am I still hungry, am I willing to put in the effort and run the miles? yes”.
He added, “I still have the fighting spirit inside of me and until the moment I lose that feeling I don’t think I should think about retiring, but being realistic, can my body do that?” I watched tennis and Andy Murray, the guy still has that fighting spirit but his body doesn’t allow him to.”
“I’m still exercising in a way that normal people can’t,” he added. I still feel like I have this spirit but I have to be realistic.
Farah, who also won six outdoor world titles, noted that his mind might “tell you to keep going but sometimes it takes a while…but sometimes you have to take a step back, be realistic”.
“The truth is, I get used to it a little bit and sometimes your body just won’t let you do things,” he continued. But this is also the reason why I won’t be in the world or European championships this summer.
Farah insisted that the decision to retire would be in his hands alone, and concluded: This decision can only come from me, not from my manager, my wife or my children, and this moment will come, but I do not know that myself.
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