‘Weakling’ Farah reveals how gamble paid off

Mo Farah has revealed how the biggest gamble of his career turned him from a weakling who runs “like a girl” into a double Olympic champion.

Farah claimed gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the European Championships in Barcelona in 2010, but knew he still needed to improve on the world scene after finishing sixth and seventh in the previous two World Championships.

The 29-year-old, who had also failed to qualify for the Olympic 5,000m final in Beijing in 2008, therefore split from long-term coach Alan Storey and moved his wife Tania and daughter Rihanna — aged five at the time — from their London home just 17 months out from London 2012 to work with Alberto Salazar in Portland, Oregon.