Mo Farah will call time on his marathon career in London on Sunday and insists he will do so with no regrets.
The 40-year-old plans to run a few more races over shorter distances before hanging up his running shoes on an illustrious career, which resulted in four Olympic gold medals and six world titles.
Farah is not expected to mix it with the frontrunners for this weekend’s race and boasts just one marathon victory – in Chicago back in 2018 – and one podium finish in London.
Despite failing to convert his track success to the road, as well as courting controversy with his long-time coach Alberto Salazar, who was banned from athletics for life, Farah insisted he had no regrets.
"In my career, I wouldn’t have done anything different,” he said. “Every part has been a journey that you never know where it will go. But I just took that journey and kept going and kept grafting. But if I look back and ask if I’d have changed anything, I would have changed nothing.”
Farah pulled out of last year’s marathon with an injury picked up in the build-up. And he admitted at 40 that his body could no longer live up to the rigours of marathon running despite two months of successful training in Ethiopia.
“This is it,” he said ahead of London. “I don’t know if my body can do it week in, week out. The last two years my body hasn’t allowed me to do the training and that’s the hardest thing.”
There are concerns that the elite races could be impacted by environmental protestors. Extinction Rebellion have reassured London Marathon bosses they have no plans to disrupt the race amid their own protests in the capital this weekend.
And talks have been held with Just Stop Oil, responsible for this week’s protest at the World Snooker Championship, to seek similar reassurances.
Farah made a personal plea from protestors to leave the race alone.
He said: “The London Marathon, so many people taking part, running for loved ones, raising money for charities and making a difference to others. For all the people out there, that’s what we have to remember. Yes, we’re the elite but it’s not about us. Far more important are the people who are taking part running for loved ones.”
