Mo Farah no longer sounds hopeful about competing in the 2020 Olympics.
“I don’t think I will be,” Farah said Saturday after winning the Pre Classic 5000m. “I miss my family. My kids are growing so fast. I know I’m away six months of the year, and sometimes it makes me sad being away so long.”
Previously, Farah sounded borderline optimistic about trying to add to his collection of four Olympic gold medals in Tokyo at age 37. He is moving from the track to road racing after this season, with an eye on marathons.
Though he said right after Rio, “I don’t know” about Tokyo, Farah went on in September to say he “hopefully will be” competing in his fourth Olympics in 2020.
“I think it would be incredible if I can go for another Olympics,” Farah said in September. “In athletics, we don’t take anything for granted. ... I’ve got to kind of look after my body and be grateful and just get through each year as it comes rather than, like, plan ahead.”
Then in October:
“It would be nice to be able to compete in another Olympics and compete in Tokyo on the road,” Farah said. “That would be something amazing.”
Farah said Saturday that “it’s looking good” that he will race both the 5000m and 10,000m at the world championships in London in August. He has won the last nine Olympic/world titles in those two events, dating to 2011.
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