Rio de Janeiro: Britain’s Mohamed Farah historic performance at Rio Olyampic was inspired by the love of his children.
The Somalian-born Muslim recovered from a mid-race fall to successfully defend his Olympic 10,000 metres title at the Rio Games.
Farah tumbled to the ground after appearing to trip over American Galen Rupp on the 10th lap at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday, reports Xinhua.
But he recovered quickly to set the pace before charging to the finish line in a time of 27 minutes 5.17 seconds.
“When I went down, I thought, ‘Oh my God, that is it.’ I just got up and wanted to stick with the guys and stay strong,” Farah said.
“I got my rhythm back and just thought, ‘Don’t panic, don’t panic, don’t panic, you can get through this’,” said a Muslim African immigrant representing the UK.
Farah, a devout Muslim, is the first Briton to claim three gold medals in athletics at the Olympic Games.
“I’ve won an Olympic gold for three of my children. Now I’d like to win the 5,000m gold for my little boy,” Mo said.
The 33-year-old won the 5,000m and 10,000m at the 2012 London Games said his first thought after tumbling to the ground was that he had promised his daughter Rihanna, 11, he would win the medal.
“I’d promised my older daughter Rihanna I was going to get a medal for her and in my mind I was thinking, ‘I can’t let her down’,” he said.
“The twins from 2012 (Aisha and Amani, who were born shortly after the London Games) have got one each and Rihanna’s missing one, so I thought, ‘I can’t, I can’t’.
“That’s all I was thinking about was her. That’s why I was quite emotional at the end, because it almost went.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUonCCVrzH4