Mo Farah said he plans to return to the track for the Tokyo Olympics, going for a third straight 10,000m gold medal after spending the last two years as a marathon runner.
“Next year, I’ve decided, Tokyo 2020, I’m going to be back on the track ... give it a go in the 10,000m,” he said in a video published Friday. “Hopefully I haven’t lost my speed, but I will train hard for it and see what I can do.”
Farah, a 36-year-old Brit, retired from major track racing in 2017, making the switch to road running that so many distance greats do in their 30s. At the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, Farah became the second person to sweep the 5000m and 10,000m at multiple Games.
He had a fantastic first full year at 26.2 miles in 2018 -- breaking the British record at the London Marathon (third place overall) and then winning the Chicago Marathon in a European record 2:05:11.
Farah was not as successful this year, placing fifth in London and eighth in Chicago and losing his place as arguably the top threat to dominant Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge.
“It’s been a great learning curve for me, doing the marathon,” he said in Friday’s video.
Farah spent the last year teasing a track comeback, even saying a month out from the world championships that he was considering entering the 10,000m. That never materialized.
Farah won all five Olympic or world titles at 10,000m from 2012 through 2017. In his absence on Oct. 6, 23-year-old Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei won the world title in 26:48.36, faster than any of Farah’s crowns and .79 off Farah’s personal best.
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