NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: Mo Farah of Britain celebrates winning The Great North Run on September 11, 2016 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images for Nike)
Mo Farah, a four-time Olympic distance runner from Great Britain, has revealed that he promised his two kids he would win two gold medals, one for each of them, from last summer’s Rio Olympics.
Farah, 33, said this promise gave him additional motivation to win both the 5,000 and 10,000m races.
“Leading up to the Olympics I was injury free and my training had gone well, so I went into the Games feeling good and confident,” he said. “But four years is a long time in athletics. I’m getting older and it gets harder to recover between sessions, so I didn’t take anything for granted when it came to retaining my golds.”
He continued:
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Farah also discussed one of his less proud moments in Rio: “When I tripped in the 10k – that was honestly one of the hardest races of my life, so falling over nearly finished my chances there and then.
“On 1st January this year, Her Majesty The Queen made me a Knight of the Realm. On 27th January, President Donald Trump seems to have made me an alien.
“I am a British citizen who has lived in America for the past six years — working hard, contributing to society, paying my taxes and bringing up our four children in the place they now call home. Now, me and many others like me are being told that we may not be welcome. It’s deeply troubling that I will have to tell my children that Daddy might not be able to come home — to explain why the President has introduced a policy that comes from a place of ignorance and prejudice.”
“I was welcomed into Britain from Somalia at eight years old and given the chance to succeed and realise my dreams. I have been proud to represent my country, win medals for the British people and receive the greatest honour of a knighthood. My story is an example of what can happen when you follow policies of compassion and understanding, not hate and isolation.”
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