Farah strikes gold to lead Britain in historic one-two

Farah turned in a display of supreme confidence, bordering on arrogance, as he took gold in 28 minutes 24.99 seconds ahead of team-mate Chris Thompson.

The Somalia-born 27-year-old had finally hit the front in a slow race with five laps to go, but then beckoned Spain's Ayad Lamdassem through to take up the pace with just over three laps remaining.

Remarkably, a lap later Farah was so confident the race was his he turned around to encourage Thompson, who was engaged in a battle with Italy's Daniele Meucci some 30m behind.

And the gambit paid massive dividends as Farah stormed clear with 350m to go and Thompson produced a rousing finish to overhaul Lamdassem and just hold off Meucci on the line, both athletes given the same time of 28:27.33.

Four years ago in Gothenburg Britain won just one gold medal in the entire championships, claiming the men's 4x100m relay on the final day of competition.

But Farah and Thompson were always expected to deliver, coming into the race separated by less than a second this year but more than 30 seconds quicker than anyone else in the field.

A delighted Farah, who won silver in the 5,000m four years ago, said: "That was amazing. One-two has never been done before and it just feels so great to be here."

Thompson added: "Coming here and winning the silver was my gold."

Dwain Chambers, Mark Lewis-Francis and James Dasaolu all progressed into today's 100m semi-final. Jenny Meadows and Jemma Simpson also advanced to Friday's final of the women's 800m, while Phillips Idowu and Nathan Douglas reached the triple jump final

FARAH FACTFILE

1983 – March 23 - Born in Mogadishu, Somalia.

1993 – Arrives in Britain as a refugee.

2001 – Wins first major title by winning the 5000m at the European Junior Athletics Championships in Athens.

2006 – Wins silver in the 5000m at the European Championships. Wins the European Cross Country Championship.

2007 – Finishes sixth in the 5000m at the World Championships in Japan.

2008 – Fails to reach final of 5000m at Beijing Olympics.

2009 – Finishes seventh in the 5000m at the World Championships in Berlin, the top European.

2010: July 27 – Wins the 10,000m at the European Championships in Barcelona.