Joshua Cheptegei’s Rival, Mo Farah Struggling To Qualify For Tokyo Olympics

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in Marathon June 7, 2021

It has been almost three years since bookmakers started anticipating a duel between Joshua Cheptegei and Mo Farah. They hoped the world Champion, Cheptegei, and Olympic champion Farah would face off at the 10,000M race at next month’s Tokyo Olympic Games.

This much-anticipated contest between the two champions, however, might not take place due to some complications.

The four-time Olympic champion Farah failed to hit the qualifying mark over the 25-lap race at the British Olympic trial in Birmingham on Saturday.

The 38-year-old won the 5000M and the 10000M double at the London 2012 before repeating the feat at the Rio 2016 games. However, this past experience did not enable him to qualify for next month’s Olympic Games as he finished at a distant 8th position.

Mo Farah posted a time of 27 minutes and 50.64 seconds behind fellow Briton Marc Scott. He posted a time that came out 22 seconds short of the 27:28.00 qualifying standard.

The Briton said a foot injury cost him but he is running out of time for a ticket to Tokyo, with the qualification deadline set on June 29.

‘’I’ve been carrying a niggle since I came back from Training. It is frustrating because I have done a lot of good work in Flagstaff (Arizona),’’ Farah said.

The Birmingham race had been Farah’s first since winning the world title at the London 2017 edition with Cheptegei coming in second.

Farah took his challenge to the road and Cheptegei has since won every other 10,000M title on offer. Those wins include the 2019 World Championships in Doha.

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