Long distance runner Mo Farah won’t be at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after failing to qualify for the men’s 10,000m event by 19 seconds at the British Championships in Manchester held this weekend.
Mo Farah, a four-time Olympic champion and the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history needed a winning time of less than 27 minutes, 28 seconds to make the British team for Tokyo but finished in 27:47.04.
With the Briton now unable to defend the men’s 10000m event, attention now shifts to World record holder Joshua Cheptegei and his Ugandan compatriot Jacob Kiplimo, described as the event’s present and future, who will instead be gunning for Farah’s crown in the Olympic final on Friday 30 July.
Cheptegei in particular is a top seed at the Olympics and will attempt to go for silverware at both the 10000m and 5000m events, which Mo Farah won in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.
Other runners to watch in the men’s 10000m event in Tokyo include Kenyan trio of Geoffrey Kamworor, Rodgers Kwemoi and Weldon Kipkruin including Ethiopian Selemon Barega and Britain’s Marc Scott, although he is reportedly suffering with a foot injury.
