If you’re anything like the team at Cherwell Sport, excitement levels about the summer’s coming Olympics have been spiking for some time. Sure, the relentless cynicism in the press might get you down at times, the humiliating prostration of the capital’s transport network for the benefit of major sponsors zinging through reserved lanes like Chernenko-era functionaries might frustrate, and of course there is that constant, back-of-the-mind worry that something, somewhere will go wrong in a major way. But then you think of the sport, and everything just seems destined to go swimmingly (not least at the Aquatic Centre).
One of the strongest reasons for hope, from a parochial perspective, is that Britain looks to do pretty damn well. Led by the frankly terrifying Dutch martinet Charles van Commenee, who brooks no nonsense from any quarter, UK Athletics is full of exciting prospects for this summer. Perhaps chief among these is longdistance runner Mo Farah, whom I was fortunate enough to talk to last week.
Farah came to the sport through the now traditional means of being found at an early age by a thoughtful P.E. teacher, telling me that, ‘Alan Watkinson… spotted my talent and encouraged me to run.’ His teacher also made use of some effective persuasive tactics: ‘he told me that if I went to the athletics track to train I could play football for 30 minutes before’. This turned out to be quite the deal (and football has remained an interest, with Farah a keen Arsenal fan).
It was success that motivated Farah to stick with the running after Watkinson’s initial encouragement and his interest grew as he won more races, something he describes as ‘a natural progression.’
For a man who spends large proportions of his day-to-day life running, Farah is pretty laid-back when it comes to the superstitions and lucky charms that can characterise sportsmen. Running tights – ‘I just like to keep my legs feeling warm and supple’ – and a freshly shaved head can surely be more accurately filed under performance-maximizers than odd talismans. He’s also relaxed about his racing in other ways, diplomatically refusing to choose a favourite event and simply saying enthusiastically that, ‘My favourite event is the next one, because I know I have put in the effort to perform well’.
Obviously running many thousands of metres on a regular basis isn’t always the most pleasant of tasks. Though many of us would cop to the description of ‘runner’, a lazy jog around the University Parks twice a week (if we wake up in time of course) is many orders of magnitude less gruelling than the training through which Farah puts himself.
The word that emerges most when talking to him about his training is ‘tough’. Getting out of the house to run in all weathers is a particular complaint. His other major bugbear is actually nothing to do with the running itself, but rather what the running precludes. Twice a day outings mean that, ‘there is not a lot of socialising with friends as I need to rest and recover’. His logistical challenges can be frustrating too. Since he moved to Portland, Oregon, he’s had to get used to racking up the air miles, flying between the States, the UK and Kenya on a regular basis. As he says, ‘These are long journeys and your body has to adapt to the new time zones’; not necessarily something a runner would have realised would take up large chunks of their life.
Though not the archetypal spectator sport, middle and long distance running has generated British sporting heroes before this. Paula Radcliffe most recently, and for our parents the duelling pair of Coe and Ovett, have all captured the imagination. Farah’s propulsion to this level of acclaim probably came last summer at the World Athletics Championship in Daegu. After coming tantalisingly close to gold in the 10,000m, being pipped at the last by Ibrahim Jelian, Farah came roaring back with a win in the 5,000m race. This he calls his ‘proudest achievement’, and adds that ‘having narrowly missed out in the 10,000m I was so determined not to let that happen again in the 5,000m.’
Any other feats he’s particularly pleased with? ‘Winning the double (5,000m and 10,000m) in Barcelona was great’. Indeed, the two races came within five days of each other at the European Championships in 2010, and Runner’s World has termed this his career-defining moment – though he’ll be looking to add some new ones in Stratford this July.
Farah is tipped to do very well this summer. After disappointment in Beijing, where he didn’t make the 5,000m final, he has kicked on hugely, describing the last two years as full of ‘golden moments’, and the London Games have come at the perfect time in his career. After his exploits in Korea gold might well beckon.
And after that? He’s happy to reconfirm that he intends to move into the marathon. He returns to the idea of natural change, suggesting that the change-up is just ‘the progression of a distance runner’. He adds that, ‘A lot of the training I do indicates I could run a good marathon and after winning the New York half marathon last year I am keen to give it a go.’ Farah is also understandably keen to spend more time with his family, and indulge his PlayStation habit.
Whether this does turn out to be a truly golden year for Mo Farah or not, he has already had a career he can justly be proud of: World championships, British records, and a European Athlete of the Year award for 2011 (he was also a candidate for Sports Personality of the Year). His positivity seems ever-present: his tweets usually end with an exhortation of ‘Shabba!’ There’s no doubt he will do his utmost this summer, but he does know that life, and racing, go on after the Olympics.
