Is Mo Farah in the Olympics? Why GB runner is not at Tokyo 2020, has he retired - world records and medals held

Mo Farah is one of the most iconic British athletes, with the long distance runner known for his celebratory “Mobot” dance.

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in full swing, why haven’t we seen Farah running for the Team GB squad?

Is Mo Farah competing in the Olympics?

Unfortunately, Farah is not competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after failing to qualify for the games.

The two-time Olympic champion missed out on the opportunity to defend his 10,000m title after he went over the qualifying time in an invitational 10,000m at the British Athletics Championships in Manchester.

Farah needed to come in at under 27 minutes and 28 seconds at the Regional Arena to earn his spot in Tokyo, but he came in just short at 27 minutes and 27.04 seconds.

The invitational race was arranged after Farah failed to qualify during the 10,000m trials in Birmingham earlier in June.

It was the first time that he had lost a 10,000m race in a decade, having decided to return to the track after focusing on the marathon since 2017.

At the time, Farah cited an ankle problem as a possible reason for the failure, but ultimately said he had “no excuse” and that “it is what it is”.

What did he say about losing out on the Tokyo Olympics?

Speaking trackside after missing out on the qualifying time, Farah said: “You go out there and give it all and that’s all you have. It’s quite windy. I tried to push and push and I ran my lungs out.

“That’s all you can do as a human being, give it your all. I’ve had a wonderful career. I’m very grateful. That’s all I had today.

“It’s a tough one. I’ve always said if I can’t compete with the best, I’m not going to be in a final. Tonight wasn’t good enough.”

While Farah admitted that failing to qualify for Tokyo did come as a shock, he would not have wanted to be permitted onto the team if he wasn’t at his best.

He said: “As a sportsman you’ve just got to get a hold of it, you’ve got to own it, move on and see what you can do – and I know I can do more, that’s the frustrating part.

“The Olympics only come around every four years and when the opportunity comes you’ve got to take it, but this is the reality now, I’m not going. I’m so disappointed.

“But I’ve said from day one, if I can’t compete with the best out there, I wouldn’t bother. If I’m not capable of that, why would I turn up just to make it on the team? I wouldn’t do that.”

Has Mo Farah retired?

Speaking to talkSPORT after failing to secure a spot at the Tokyo Olympics, Farah said: “At the moment in my career, I feel like I’m not finished yet. I know I can do it and I will not end it like this.

“I want to end it with something massive. Although obviously nothing is going to be as big as the Olympics, I want to come back out and do something great.

“That’s what makes us champions. You have to continue, you have to go over many hurdles and you have to push on.

“At the moment, it’s tough, but I will continue. You’ll see that smile again.”

What did his coach say?

Farah’s coach, Gary Lough, insisted that we haven’t seen the last of the long distance runner.

Lough said: “If it was just one of those ‘past your sell-by date’ or ‘you can’t do this anymore’ things… but it really, really is not that situation. There’s no way Mohamed Farah is going to end his career running around the track here.

“In terms of what’s next, I honestly don’t know. There wasn’t really a Plan B – this was kind of a plan B after Birmingham, and there’s definitely not a plan C right at this minute.

“He wasn’t really aware of split times. I wasn’t allowed to go on the inside. Even though all these other people do it, in Britain you’re not allowed to do stuff like that. So he wasn’t aware of lap times.

“I tried to shout. So he didn’t know any split time so he wasn’t really aware that they were down and they were slow.”

Lough said that the most “devastating and frustrating” thing is that Farah is in physically good shape and that “he can do this”.

He said: “He struggles in conditions like this but don’t want to make excuses. That was the concern all day – the conditions and the cold.

“He struggled through the first half of the year. He continued and got things OK, got through the summer, he ran in Brussels.

“This year he’s been pretty good. He’s struggled to see the people that he usually would see because of Covid.”

What medals and records has he won?

Over the course of his career, Farah has earned a multitude of awards and honours, including four Olympic gold medals, six World Championships gold medals and five European Championships gold medals.

At the Rio Olympic games in 2016, Farah completed his famous “double-double”, claiming two consecutive golds at the games for the 5,000m and 10,000m and defending the gold medals he had first achieved in the London 12 games for Team GB.

He is the most decorated athlete in British athletics history, with 10 global titles.

In 2020, Farah broke the world record by running 21.33km in 60 minutes at Brussels Diamond League.