Farah survives fall to win stunning Olympic victory as he leads Britain‘s Rio gold rush
MO Farah raced to a stunning 10,000 metres Olympics triumph early today - despite falling over during the race.
The track superstar, 33, appeared to be clipped by his longtime training partner Galen Rupp but found his feet to blow away the rest of the field as he successfully defended his London 2012 title.
Mo’s blistering burst of speed, finishing in 27.05.17 left silver medallist Paul Tanui 0.47sec adrift amid flag-waving joy for travelling British fans.
Pre-race favourite Mo, of Teddington, Middlesex, was in peak form after overcoming setbacks including a drugs probe into his American coach Alberto Salazar.
He will now race in the 5,000 metres next weekend in a bid to secure an amazing “quadruple double” of wins in successive major global competitions.
Mo worked out the key to winning gold prior to last night’s final. He would outpace opponents and then run a gruelling last lap to hold them off.
Britain’s third victory in 24 hours put us third in the medals table with ten golds.
Earlier cyclist Laura Trott became the first British female to win a third Olympic gold when she won the team pursuit event in the velodrome alongside Joanna Rowsell-Shand, Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald .
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Earlier our Men’s Eight rowers stormed to a gold medal minutes after Team GB’s women took silver.
Jubilant cox Phelan Hill, 37, let out a mighty roar and raised his fists as the fellas finished 1.33sec ahead of their German rivals. He hailed the exhausted rowers, who included ex-Boat Race winner Andrew Triggs-Hodge, as “gladiators”.
Ex-Oxford student Andrew, 37, of Halton, Bucks, said: “That was the angriest, the fiercest, ruthless. It was aggressive.”
The Women’s Eight rowers were pipped to gold by Canada. But the team’s Fran Houghton, 35, now a five-time Olympian, said: “I’m so proud of the girls. We believed in ourselves and that was it. The rest was inevitable.”
Belgian prodigy Nafissatou Thiam, 21, took home gold, doing just enough in the final 800m to hold off Ennis-Hill's challenge.
Another of Team GB's Super Saturday heroes, Greg Rutherford, came agonisingly close to repeating his 2012 glory, but had to settle for bronze.
Finally Adam Peaty inspired Team GB to 4×100 metres medley relay silver as Michael Phelps claimed his 23rd – and last – Olympic gold.
Britain won six gold and a silver on the famous first “Super Saturday” of London 2012.
