Early years Farah joined the Borough of Hounslow Athletics Club in west London. He represented
Hounslow at
cross-country in the 1994
London Youth Games as an under-13. In 1996, at the age of 13, he entered the
English schools cross-country championships and finished ninth. The following year he won the first of five English school titles. Farah's first major title was in the
5000 metres at the
2001 European Athletics Junior Championships, the same year that he began training at
St Mary's University, Twickenham. That year, Farah became one of the first two athletes in the newly formed Endurance Performance Centre at St Mary's. He lived and trained at the college and took some modules in an access course before becoming a full-time athlete as his career progressed.
2005–2008: First titles and personal bests In 2005, Farah moved in with Australian
Craig Mottram and a group of Kenyan runners that included 10,000 m world number one
Micah Kogo. "They sleep, eat, train and rest, that's all they do but as an athlete you have to do all those things. Running with Craig made me feel more positive," Farah said. "If I ever want to be as good as these athletes I've got to work harder. I don't just want to be British number one, I want to be up there with the best." During the
2007 European Indoor Championship Farah fell and amid confusion started running in the wrong direction. In May 2008, Farah ran 10,000 m, setting the fastest UK men's time for almost 8 years. However, he was
knocked out before the 5000 m final at the
2008 Olympics in Beijing.
2009–2010: British records and European champion In January 2009, Farah set a new British indoor record in the 3000 metres, breaking
John Mayock's record with a time of 7 minutes 40.99 seconds in
Glasgow. A few weeks later, he broke his own record by more than six seconds with a time of 7 minutes 34.47 at the UK Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham, a performance which commentator
Steve Cram called "the best performance by a male British distance runner for a generation". Farah attributed his good form to a spell of winter training at altitude in Ethiopia and Kenya. In March 2009 he took gold in the 3000 m at the
European Indoor Championships in Turin, recording a time of 7 minutes 40.17. Farah competed at the
2009 World Championships in Athletics: he was in the leading pack early on in the
5000 metres race and eventually finished seventh – the best by a European runner. After the championships, he scored a victory in his first road competition over 10 miles, winning the
Great South Run in 46:25 to become the third fastest Briton in spite of strong winds. Farah was one of the favourites to upset
Serhiy Lebid's dominance at the
2009 European Cross Country Championships. However, Lebid was never in contention as Farah and
Alemayehu Bezabeh were some distance ahead throughout the run. Farah was overtaken by Bezabeh in the latter stages of the race, leaving the Briton with a second consecutive silver medal at the competition. He did not manage to attend the medal ceremony, however, as he collapsed immediately after the race and needed medical attention. After a close third place behind
Edwin Soi at the
BOclassic, Farah competed in the short course race at the
Great Edinburgh Cross Country. He was the favourite to win and surged ahead to build a comfortable lead. However, he appeared tired in the latter stages and finished third behind British runners Ricky Stevenson and Steve Vernon. Farah again required post-race medical attention and subsequent tests revealed he had low levels of iron and magnesium. He was prescribed supplements for the condition and his high altitude training plans in Kenya were unaffected. at the
2010 European Athletics Championships. Farah won the 2010
London 10,000 in late May in a time of 27:44, in the process beating 10K world record holder
Micah Kogo. His success continued the following week at the
European Cup 10,000 m. There, he improved his track best by nearly 16 seconds, finishing in a time of 27:28.86. Farah won by a margin of over forty seconds ahead of second placed
Abdellatif Meftah. After training in Africa, he returned to Europe for the
2010 European Athletics Championships. He took the 10,000 metres gold medal, overtaking
Ayad Lamdassem with two laps to go and finishing the race unpressured in a time of 28:24.99. This was Farah's first major title and also the first European gold medal in the event for Great Britain. He then went on to win the 5000 m, beating
Jesús España and becoming only the fifth man in the 66-year history of the European Championships to achieve the 5000 m/10,000 m double, and the first for 20 years, following in the footsteps of the Czech
Emil Zátopek in 1950,
Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak of Poland in 1958, Finland's
Juha Vaatainen in 1971 and
Salvatore Antibo, of Italy, in 1990. On 19 August 2010, at a
Diamond League meeting in
Zürich, Farah ran 5000 m in 12:57.94, breaking
David Moorcroft's long-standing British record and becoming the first ever British athlete to run under 13 minutes. In December 2010, Farah was named track-and-field athlete of the year by the British Olympic Association. He closed the year at the
BO classic and just missed out on the 10,000 m title, losing to
Imane Merga in a sprint finish by 0.2 seconds.
2011–12: European and British records, and world medals 2011 was a successful year for Farah, beginning on 8 January at the
Edinburgh Cross Country, where he defeated the top four finishers of that year's
European Championships to take victory in the long race. In February 2011, Farah announced that he would be relocating to
Portland, Oregon to work with new couch
Alberto Salazar, train alongside
Galen Rupp, and avoid the attention of the British tabloids. On 19 February 2011 in Birmingham, England, Farah broke the European 5000 m indoor record with a time of 13:10.60, at the same time taking ten seconds off the 29-year-old British indoor record of
Nick Rose. On 5 March 2011, he won gold in the 3000 metres at the
European Indoor Championships. On 20 March, Farah also won the
NYC Half Marathon in a time of 1:00:23, a new British record. He and training partner Galen Rupp had originally planned on running a 10,000 m race in New Zealand. However, after the race was cancelled due to the
Christchurch earthquake and damage done to the track, they entered the half-marathon in New York. On 3 June 2011, at a Diamond League meeting in
Eugene, Oregon, Farah won the
Prefontaine Classic's 10,000 m event in 26:46.57, setting a new British and European record. On 22 July 2011, at a Diamond League meeting in
Monaco, he set a new British national record in the 5000 m with a time of 12:53.11. Farah edged out American
Bernard Lagat to win the race. He became the first British man to win a World Championships medal over either distance. Farah had in fact been more strongly favoured to take the 10,000 m title, but was narrowly beaten in a last lap sprint by Ethiopian
Ibrahim Jeilan. In the 5000 m, he overcame Lagat, beating him into second place. Following the race,
Dave Moorcroft, former 5000 metres world record holder, hailed Farah as "the greatest male distance runner that Britain has ever seen". At the European Championships in June 2012, he won the
5000 m. This then made Farah the first athlete to win this European title more than once.
2012: Double Olympic champion event at the
2012 Summer Olympics , painted in honour of Farah as part of a
scheme to celebrate Britain's 2012 Olympic gold medal winners At the
London 2012 Olympics, on 4 August, Farah won the
10,000 m gold in a time of 27:30.42. This was Great Britain's first Olympic gold medal in the 10,000 m, and came after two other gold medals for the country in the same athletics session. His training partner,
Galen Rupp of the United States, took second place. At the time both runners were a part of the Nike Oregon Project coached by
Alberto Salazar. Farah stated that he would observe his
Ramadan fast later in the year. On 11 August 2012, Farah made it a long-distance double, winning the
5000 metres in a time of 13:41.66. The noise from the crowd in the 5,000 m race was so loud it made the camera shake and distorted the photo-finish image. He dedicated the two golds to his twin daughters. On 23 August 2012, Farah returned to the track at a Diamond League meet in
Birmingham, where he capped off a winning season with another victory over a distance of two miles ().
CBE Following his 2012 successes, Farah was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to athletics. The move was met with anger by many in the general public, including erstwhile Minister of Sports
Gerry Sutcliffe, who felt that Farah instead deserved a higher accolade. Farah's former physical education teacher Alan Watkinson similarly indicated that he was disappointed that Farah was not knighted and that the decision "discredits the system although it's still a fantastic achievement for Mo and well deserved." and
David Cameron in August 2013 expressed support for a knighthood for Mo Farah.
2013: 1500 m record and world medals On 19 July 2013, at the
Herculis meeting in Monaco, Farah broke the
European 1500 m record with a time of 3:28.81. The feat meant that he was the
sixth fastest man ever over the distance, overtaking
Steve Cram's 28-year-old
British record and Fermín Cacho's 16-year-old European record. It also made Farah the seventh man, behind
Saïd Aouita,
Daniel Komen,
Ali Saïdi-Sief,
Hicham El Guerrouj,
Augustine Kiprono Choge and
Bernard Lagat to break both the 3:30 barrier in the 1500 metres and the 13-minute barrier in the 5000 metres, as well as the only athlete in history to run sub 3:30, sub 13-minute and sub 27-minute for 1500 metres, 5000 metres and 10,000 metres respectively. Additionally, he has a sub 1 hour run in the half-marathon. The following month, Farah won the London Diamond League Anniversary Games' 3000 metres event in a time of seven minutes and 36.85 seconds. He twice broke the national record in the half-marathon, first on 24 February in New Orleans, then broke his own record on 15 September in the
Great North Run. On 10 August 2013, Farah stayed in front of
Ibrahim Jeilan to win the
10,000 m event at the
World Championships in Moscow. The victory was his fourth global title. After this victory, BBC commentator
Brendan Foster and
Sebastian Coe called Farah 'Britain's greatest ever athlete'. Farah became only the second man in history to win long-distance titles at successive editions of the Olympics and World Championships, after
Kenenisa Bekele's 2008–09 feat. He was the first British athlete to win two individual gold medals at a World Championships. In December 2013, Farah was the second favourite, behind Wimbledon tennis champion
Andy Murray, to become the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. When he was asked what drove him to keep pushing back the boundaries of athletic accomplishment, he noted sprinter
Usain Bolt's record-breaking streak as a motivating example of what is possible for all dedicated athletes. Farah was a finalist for the 2013 IAAF World Athlete of the year award. In preparation for his marathon debut, he also extended his training schedule to 120 miles a week. Farah finished in eighth place in a time of 2:08.21. This was outside
Steve Jones' GB record, but set a new English national record. in Zürich Farah was due to compete at the
2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. However, he withdrew due to illness from a stomach ailment and an infection caused from having a tooth removed. Farah later appeared in Zürich at the
2014 European Athletics Championships. He successfully defended his 5000 m title and won a gold in the 10,000 m, thus completing another major championship double. This made him the most successful individual in the history of the European Athletics Championships, with five titles to his name. On 7 September 2014, Farah competed in the
Great North Run, a British half marathon. He won the race with a personal best time of 1:00:00, exactly 1 hour.
2015: World and European records On 21 February 2015, Farah broke the indoor
two-mile world record at the
Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix. He ran an 8:03.4 to break
Kenenisa Bekele's record. On 22 March, Farah broke the European record for half marathon in
Lisbon. He ran a time of 59 minutes, 32 seconds, surpassing the record set 14 years previously by Spain's
Fabián Roncero. He repeated his long-distance gold medal double at the
2015 World Championships in Athletics. His win in the 10,000m made him the oldest World Championship winner in that event, at age 32.
2016: Double-Double Olympic Golds at Rio On 26 March, Farah received a bronze medal in the
2016 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in
Cardiff, finishing in 59:59, less than one second ahead of
Abayneh Ayele. On 20 February, Farah won the Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix 3000m event. On 5 June 2016, Farah broke the 34-year-old British 3000 metre record set by Moorcroft by winning the Diamond League in
Birmingham, a win he dedicated to the recently deceased boxer
Muhammad Ali. In July 2016 Farah set the concurrent world-leading time in the 5000m in winning the Diamond League in London. He won the 10,000m at the Diamond League in
Eugene, in a time of 26:53.71 which remained the second-fastest time in the world of the year. On 13 August, Farah won a gold medal in the
10,000 metres at the
Rio Olympics, making it the first time a Briton had won three athletic gold Olympic medals. After being accidentally clipped on the back of the heel by American
Galen Rupp on the tenth lap he fell, but went on to win gold with the time of 27:05.17. Rupp slowed after Farah's fall to check his condition and finished in fifth place with a time of 27:08.92. In the final lap Farah battled
Paul Tanui, who took the lead with 300 metres remaining. Farah edged him out with 100 metres to go. Tanui finished in second place with a time of 27:05.64. In September 2016, he won the
Great North Run for a record third consecutive year. In 2016, he was the fastest person from the European
continent over two
middle distance events and three
long-distance events; the 1500 metres, 3000 metres, 5000 metres, 10,000 metres and the half-marathon respectively. His ninth global title, the 5000 m in Rio, made him surpass
Kenenisa Bekele as the most frequent winner of gold in history for major long-distance events. He remained unbeaten in 2016 in the 3000 m as well as in six races over the 10,000 m and 5,000 m distances.
2017: Tenth world title and track retirement Farah announced that he would switch from track events to the
marathon after the
2017 World Championships in Athletics. He won the
10,000 m event, and came second in the
5,000m event after Ethiopia's
Muktar Edris. Farah won his final two track events, in the Diamond league, in Birmingham and Zurich. On 24 August 2017, he won his final 5,000 m in the Diamond league, finishing in 13:06.05, in a final sprint against
Paul Chelimo and
Muktar Edris just behind in 13:06.09. On 20 August 2017, Farah again reiterated his decision to move to the marathon full-time, and caused headlines when he announced after running his last 10,000 m race on British soil at the Muller Grand Prix in Birmingham that he would never again run in a GB vest. On 10 September 2017, Farah won the
Great North Run for a record fourth consecutive time. He finished in 1:00:06, 6 seconds ahead of
Jake Robertson. On 31 October, Farah split from
Alberto Salazar in order to be coached by
Gary Lough, husband and former coach of
Paula Radcliffe. Salazar stated that the split was mutual and he would be happy to advise Farah in the future.
Since 2018: Full-time marathon runner In March 2018, in preparation for the London Marathon, Farah won the inaugural London Big Half Marathon, his first race in six months. On 22 April 2018, Farah came third in the
London Marathon in a time of 2:06:22, comfortably beating the British record of 2:07:13 set by
Steve Jones in 1985. On 9 September 2018 Farah won the Great North Run for a record-extending fifth consecutive time. At the
Chicago Marathon Farah claimed his inaugural gold medal in the marathon distance and in the process set a new European record of 2 hours 5 minutes and 11 seconds, an improvement by 37 seconds.
2019: Planning a track return In February 2019, Farah announced he planned to run again in the London Big Half Marathon in March 2019. In an interview, he also stated that he is considering competing in the
Tokyo Olympics in 2020, which, if confirmed, would mark his fourth Olympic games. As well as stating that this would depend on whether his wife and kids "let him", he reflected on his track retirement, saying: "I was honest and said I was done with the track but part of me missed it. I feel like I can still win medals and do as well as I have over the years." He has also confirmed that he may run in the 10,000 metres at the
World Championships in
Doha in late 2019, although this would depend on the result of the 2019 Big Half Marathon. This possibility was later confirmed by Neil Black, performance director of
British Athletics, who has said that Farah had received financial backing from the
National Lottery in anticipation for both his participation in the Championships, as well as for the Tokyo Olympics. and
Daniel Wanjiru compete in the 2019 London Half Marathon – finishing in that order. On 10 March 2019, Farah won his second London Big Half Marathon, and again hinted at running the 10,000 m at the
World Championships in October 2019. In April, Farah finished in fifth place in the
2019 London Marathon in 2:05:39. On 8 September 2019, Farah won the 2019
Great North Run for a record sixth consecutive time in a new Personal best of 59:07. On 29 November 2019, Farah announced via his YouTube channel, his plan to return to the track to defend his 10,000 m Olympic title at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games. Farah stated he would put his marathon career on hold while he returned to track oriented training.
2020 In August 2020, Farah won the inaugural
Antrim Coast Half Marathon, with a time of 1 hr 00 min 27 sec. On 4 September 2020, Farah set the men's all-time record for the
one hour run at the
2020 Diamond League meeting in
Brussels, Belgium, covering 21,330 metres (13.25 miles), breaking
Haile Gebrselassie's record of 21,285 metres set at
Ostrava, Czech Republic on 27 June 2007.
2021 Farah spent several weeks at altitude training in
Ethiopia, before competing at the Djibouti International Half Marathon. Farah won the race in a time of 1:03:07. After training in
Flagstaff, United States, Farah returned to the United Kingdom where, at the 2021 European 10,000 m Cup in
Birmingham, United Kingdom, he raced his first track 10,000 m since the World Championships in 2017. He finished in eighth place in a time of 27:50.64, this result broke his undefeated streak in the 10,000 m from 2011 to 2021. Farah later said he was dealing with a foot/ankle injury. On 25 June 2021, Farah failed to qualify for the
2020 Tokyo Olympic Games managing to run only a 27:47.04 for the 10,000 m at the Manchester Regional Arena, despite this time being a stadium record. The cut-off time for Olympic Qualification of the 10,000 m stands at 27:28.00, leaving Farah 19 seconds off the pace. When asked whether this would lead to the end of his distinguished career, he said "It's a tough one. If I can't compete with the best I'm not just going there to finish in a final. Tonight shows it's not good enough." ==Doping suspicion, Fancy Bears and Salazar==