Or natural equiv. of the same
. Saw the beginning of 10,000 meter men's track race. The favorite was the British athlete,Mohamed Farah, who ironically had trained in Portland, Oregon (US). He had a very slim but powerful build. You could just see how he would be lighter than others with less air friction. Just checked and looks like he won the Gold. I think I heard that UK had never won a medal in this race even though field and track is a very popular sport there. The shot on TV showed his perfect body build and shape for this race. The images I can find are not as good but here they are:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/05/mo-farah-wins-olympic-gold?newsfeed=true
Mo Farah joins long-distance Olympic greats as he sprints into record books
In an Olympics where athletes aged 15 have been scooping golds, the astonishing 29-year-old Mo Farah has just kept getting faster
Truly amazing. During the last lap, roared on by 80,000 spectators, Mo Farah entered the graced zone that every athlete dreams of, winning the men's 10,000m with a marvellous sprint flourish. He also ran into the record books, becoming the first Briton to win the event, securing the nation's sixth gold medal of the day.
His delight was complete when he turned around after crossing the line and saw his friend and training partner, American Galen Rupp take silver.
A medal of any metal would have been a triumph in this 10,000m. Farah was racing against the cream of the world's great distance running countries, Ethiopia and Kenya.
A rainbow-coloured squadron set off at a comfortable pace, the green and yellow of the Ethiopian Bekele brothers leading at the front with Farah tucked in comfortably behind. Farah had fallen back to ninth at the halfway mark with Eritrean, Zersenay Tadese in the lead.
In an Olympics where 15-year-olds win gold and 23-year-olds talk of retirement, you might have thought the 29-year-old Farah was well past his sell-by date. But distance running has always been a world unto itself, and over the past year the Somali-born Briton has been getting faster and faster. As 2012 approached, it looked as if the current world champion was coming into his prime.
For most of his career Farah has been unable to challenge the supremacy of the east Africans. He was in danger of plateauing, content with a level of achievement that was hugely admirable – the top distance runner in Europe – but way off the world's best. Former middle-distance Olympic medallist Steve Cram summed it up well when he said: "Mo has always been a good runner, but he became a great runner when he decided finishing in the top 10 in the world was not good enough."
The previous non-Ethiopian winner was 20 years ago. Tariku and his older brother Kenenisa Bekele – who finished third and fourth in Saturday's the race – come from Bekoji, a tiny village-town 140 miles south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Farah moved to London, to live with his English father, before he had the chance to run competitively in Africa. He spoke little English, and the few words he did know didn't help. One of the only expressions he knew was "C'mon then!" He tried it out on one of the boys at school and came home with a black eye. The young Farah could turn his hand or foot to pretty much anything. He was skinny and strong — not much different from today except for the trademark goatee.
His PE teacher realised he had a particular talent for running, and mentored him. Alan Watkinson also realised early on what Farah responded to — bribes. After he finished ninth at the English Schools Cross Country Championships, in 1996, he told him that if he won the following year he'd buy him an Arsenal kit. Farah won.
Watkinson was not only one to champion Farah. When he was 17, Paula Radcliffe paid for his driving lessons so that he could travel to training nights. London Marathon race director David Bedford also helped — the London Marathon Charitable Trust bankrolled Farah's education at St Mary' University College, Twickenham, and Bedford introduced Farah to Alberto Salazar, the maverick American coach credited with Farah's astounding recent progress.
The turning point in Farah's career was when he started to take himself seriously. As a young man his main claim to fame was jumping naked off Kingston bridge into the Thames.
In 2005, he moved into a house with a group of Kenyans, and had a revelation – to be seriously good, you need to be seriously committed.
He was in the habit of going to bed at 2am and sleeping through the morning, and discovered his flatmates were in bed for nine and up at six. His mantra became eat, train, sleep.
By 2010 he had won double gold at 5,000m and 10,000m at the European championship, but his time at the longer distance (28min 25sec) was still more than two minutes slower than Bekele's current world record.
So Farah set off for Kenya to train at high altitude. He ran 100 miles a week, ate, trained and slept some more, and knocked more than 90 seconds off his European championship 10,000m time. Last year he set off again – this time moving his family (his wife Tania has a seven-year-old daughter Rihanna, and is expecting twins) to Portland Oregon where Salazar introduced him to underwater treadmills and cryogenic chambers, and tried to build up his upper body strength, and eradicate a tendency towards bobbing arms.
By now Farah was taking his work so seriously that he walked away from his honeymoon when stranded in Nairobi because of the volcanic ash cloud — he returned to the high altitude while Tania and Rihanna made their own way home.
Two years later, they were close by as Farah ran the race of his life in London, as were tens of thousands of fans who threw up a huge roar of "Mo-Mo-Mo-Mo-Mo," ordering him on to victory. With one lap to go it was Farah and Kenenisa. Farah kicked and the roaring grew louder.
Then it was over. Farah kissed his hands, held his head, and wrapped himself in a union flag. Tania walked on to the track, Rhianna ran on, and he threw her in her arms. The three posed for the cameras. Bowie's Heroes played for the second time in the evening and the greatest night in British athletics came to a dream end.
Congratulations to him and his countrymen!
