Marc Scott beats Mo Farah to put legend’s Olympic spot in jeopardy

By YP Sport
Published 6th Jun 2021, 17:00 BST
Great Britain's Marc Scott reacts as he crosses the finish line in the Men's International Race A, part of the 2021 Muller British Athletics 10,000m Championships and the European 10,000m Cup at University of Birmingham (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire).Great Britain's Marc Scott reacts as he crosses the finish line in the Men's International Race A, part of the 2021 Muller British Athletics 10,000m Championships and the European 10,000m Cup at University of Birmingham (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire).
Great Britain's Marc Scott reacts as he crosses the finish line in the Men's International Race A, part of the 2021 Muller British Athletics 10,000m Championships and the European 10,000m Cup at University of Birmingham (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire).
Mo Farah’s Olympic hopes are on the brink after he missed a chance to qualify for next month’s Games on Saturday – beaten by Yorkshire’s Marc Scott who has already secured his Tokyo place.

The 38-year-old was eighth at the British 10,000m Championships and now faces a race against the clock to post the qualifying time ahead of the Tokyo Games.

He finished in 27 minutes 50.54 seconds and will need to go under 27 minutes 28 seconds by June 27 to guarantee a chance to defend his 10,000m titles from 2012 and 2016.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was a disappointing return to the track for the four-time Olympic champion as he made a comeback for the first time in four years having been focusing on the marathon since 2017.

Great Britain's Sir Mo Farah (right) inthe European 10,000m Cup at University of Birmingham. (Picture Martin Rickett/PA Wire)Great Britain's Sir Mo Farah (right) inthe European 10,000m Cup at University of Birmingham. (Picture Martin Rickett/PA Wire)
Great Britain's Sir Mo Farah (right) inthe European 10,000m Cup at University of Birmingham. (Picture Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

Farah, who suffered his first 10,000m defeat in a decade, revealed he was battling an injury to his left ankle but insisted it was important to try to qualify in Birmingham.

He said: “I’m disappointed with the result. The last 10 days hasn’t been great but no matter what I achieve in my career it’s important I come out and show at the trials. It would have been easy not to show. I dug in deep and with 15 laps to go, you know my face, I was hurting hard. I had to keep fighting and digging in.

“I’ve been carrying a niggle since I came back from training. It is frustrating because I have done a lot of good work. If you would have asked me two weeks ago it would have been a lot different. It’s part of the sport.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Scott, who finished seventh to be crowned British champion, ran under the qualifying time in February to put him second on the UK all-time rankings behind Farah’s national record of 26:46.57.

Scott, 27, was born in Northallerton and ran for the University of Tulsa.

Related topics:YorkshireBirminghamNorthallerton

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.