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| Mo Farah pulls out of Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after illness | Mo Farah pulls out of Commonwealth Games in Glasgow after illness |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| Mo Farah still expects to be fit for next month’s European Championships despite pulling out of the Commonwealth Games. Farah, who was due to compete in the 5,000m and 10,000m, was forced to withdraw after failing to fully recover from the abdominal pains that hospitalised him three weeks ago. | Mo Farah still expects to be fit for next month’s European Championships despite pulling out of the Commonwealth Games. Farah, who was due to compete in the 5,000m and 10,000m, was forced to withdraw after failing to fully recover from the abdominal pains that hospitalised him three weeks ago. |
| The Guardian understands that Farah was so desperate to add Commonwealth gold to his Olympic and world championship titles that he seriously considered only pulling out of the 5,000m on Sunday – which would have given him five more days to prepare for the 10,000m on Friday week. However, on Wednesday evening, following discussions with his coach Alberto Salazar and the British Athletics performance director Neil Black, Farah reluctantly decided that he was not in gold medal shape and withdrew. | The Guardian understands that Farah was so desperate to add Commonwealth gold to his Olympic and world championship titles that he seriously considered only pulling out of the 5,000m on Sunday – which would have given him five more days to prepare for the 10,000m on Friday week. However, on Wednesday evening, following discussions with his coach Alberto Salazar and the British Athletics performance director Neil Black, Farah reluctantly decided that he was not in gold medal shape and withdrew. |
| He will remain at his training base in Font Romeu in the south of France, where he will prepare for the European championships in Zurich, which start on 12 August. However, with no races on his itinerary until then he will arrive having raced only once on the track all year. | He will remain at his training base in Font Romeu in the south of France, where he will prepare for the European championships in Zurich, which start on 12 August. However, with no races on his itinerary until then he will arrive having raced only once on the track all year. |
| “I have taken the tough decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games,” said Farah. “The sickness I had was a big setback for me. Training is getting better here in Font Romeu but I need another few weeks to get back to the level I was at in 2012 and 2013. I really wanted to add the Commonwealth titles to my Olympic and world championships but the event is coming a few weeks too soon … my body is telling me it’s not ready to race yet. Best wishes to my fellow athletes in Glasgow.” | “I have taken the tough decision to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games,” said Farah. “The sickness I had was a big setback for me. Training is getting better here in Font Romeu but I need another few weeks to get back to the level I was at in 2012 and 2013. I really wanted to add the Commonwealth titles to my Olympic and world championships but the event is coming a few weeks too soon … my body is telling me it’s not ready to race yet. Best wishes to my fellow athletes in Glasgow.” |
| Only last week Black had talked up Farah’s chances at the Commonwealth Games, saying: “He’s just feeling so good. We really don’t have any concerns with him.” But it is understood that while Farah has had no setbacks, and is still completing his training sessions and hitting his target times, he has been feeling unusually wiped out – the legacy of that stomach problem. | Only last week Black had talked up Farah’s chances at the Commonwealth Games, saying: “He’s just feeling so good. We really don’t have any concerns with him.” But it is understood that while Farah has had no setbacks, and is still completing his training sessions and hitting his target times, he has been feeling unusually wiped out – the legacy of that stomach problem. |
| Yet British athletics officials claim that everything is broadly fine with Farah and that there is no cause for deeper concern – despite him saying in his statement that the Commonwealth Games came a few weeks too soon. They are confident he will be fit for Zurich and say the intention is still for him to race in both the 5,000m and the 10,000m. | Yet British athletics officials claim that everything is broadly fine with Farah and that there is no cause for deeper concern – despite him saying in his statement that the Commonwealth Games came a few weeks too soon. They are confident he will be fit for Zurich and say the intention is still for him to race in both the 5,000m and the 10,000m. |
| A further three weeks of training should be enough for the 31-year-old’s body to acquire the sharpness he needs to finish in the medals. But recovery can be a uncertain process, and doubts will persist about Farah’s participation until he is seen limbering up at the Letzigrund stadium wearing a GB vest. | A further three weeks of training should be enough for the 31-year-old’s body to acquire the sharpness he needs to finish in the medals. But recovery can be a uncertain process, and doubts will persist about Farah’s participation until he is seen limbering up at the Letzigrund stadium wearing a GB vest. |
| Some might see this latest setback as hubris: and that Farah, having taken on the London marathon this year – and diverted his focus from a track career that brought him Olympic and world championship victories in the 5,000m and 10,000m – has paid the price for chasing too much. But those close to Farah claim that is nonsense. They say there is no connection between the additional demands of the marathon and the problems he has experienced, which include collapsing at the finish of the New York half-marathon in March. | |
| As they point out, before Farah’s recent abdominal pains he was flying in training, having got back the speed he temporarily lost preparing for the marathon. He just got sick at the wrong time. | As they point out, before Farah’s recent abdominal pains he was flying in training, having got back the speed he temporarily lost preparing for the marathon. He just got sick at the wrong time. |
| It will help Farah that the level of competition in Zurich is far less strong than at the Commonwealths. Although Kenya have not selected their strongest team for the 5,000m and 10,000m they are still represented by athletes of the calibre of Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku, the 21-year-old who has run two of the seven fastest 5,000m times in the world this year, and Josphat Bett, who is in the top-10 rankings for the 10,000m. | It will help Farah that the level of competition in Zurich is far less strong than at the Commonwealths. Although Kenya have not selected their strongest team for the 5,000m and 10,000m they are still represented by athletes of the calibre of Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku, the 21-year-old who has run two of the seven fastest 5,000m times in the world this year, and Josphat Bett, who is in the top-10 rankings for the 10,000m. |
| By contrast the fastest European 5,000m runner this year is Britain’s Andy Vernon, whose time of 13min 11.5sec puts him 23rd in the rankings, and there are only two other Europeans in the world’s top 50. The European Championships 10,000 will be a little tougher, with four Europeans in the top 50, including the Italian Daniele Meucci and the Belgian Bashir Abdi, both of whom have run a respectable 27min 36sec this year. But Meucci finished only 19th behind Farah in the world championships in Moscow last year, while Abdi crossed the line in 23rd. | |
| In peak fitness and top form, Farah would be an overwhelming favourite to see off them and whoever else Europe throws at him next month. But, for the time being, both remain frustratingly elusive. | In peak fitness and top form, Farah would be an overwhelming favourite to see off them and whoever else Europe throws at him next month. But, for the time being, both remain frustratingly elusive. |