Mo Farah remained on track to complete a golden double at the World Athletics Championships on Wednesday evening after cruising through the 5,000m heats and into the final.
The 34-year-old finished second in 13 minutes 30.18 seconds and is now eyeing Saturday’s final ahead of his planned track retirement at the end of the month – but he is refusing to take the fairytale ending for granted.
Farah has already won the 10,000m – Great Britain’s only medal of the championships so far – to defend the title he won in 2013 and 2015.
And a double defence is on the cards after Farah shrugged off a knee injury and a cut leg, having been spiked in his 10,000m triumph.
Wednesday’s heat was run in soaking conditions at the London Stadium and Farah is wary of missing out on gold after Usain Bolt, retiring after the championships, only won bronze in the 100m on Saturday.
He said: “You’ve seen it with Usain Bolt, it happens. It would have been nice to see him win but it didn’t happen and no-one is going to give it to you – no matter who you are, even Usain Bolt.
“I just have to now focus on myself and get ready. It would be pretty amazing – no-one has every done it. It would mean the world to me but at the same time I don’t take it for granted.
“Those  boys are coming for me, they are hungry. You could see in the heat, they wanted to prove a point and show me.
“I’m going to do it. You’ll see me at the start line. I just have to recover.
“I’m cold, it’s miserable out there but it’s job done. I had to get back into some kind of running again. It’s been five days of chilling out and recovering. The 10k did take a lot out of me and I’m a little beaten up but I’m okay, I’m glad I’ve qualified and will get ready for the final.”
Farah went home to spend time with his family this week but admitted he could only last a night before he returned to the team hotel.
“The knee’s all right, the body is a bit tired – that’s all. I just have to recover now and get in the zone and switch off, turn off the lights,” he said.
“The doctors and the team have been great for me. In fact I went home to stay in Teddington, that’s where my family are, and I was like, ‘Nah, I need to get back in the hotel’. I only stayed one night.
