The defending champion will not appear at this summer’s Games
Sir Mo Farah has failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after missing the qualifying time at qualifiers in Manchester on Friday.
The defending 10,000 metre champion had to finish under a time of 27 minutes 28 seconds at the Manchester Regional Arena to have any hope of defending the medal he won at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, but set a time of 27 minutes, 47.04 seconds, meaning he will not be in Tokyo this summer.
Speaking after the event, which had been arranged following his failure to qualify at another invitational earlier this month, the 38-year-old 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.
“I’ve had a wonderful career. I’m very grateful. That’s all I had today.”
Asked if his failure to qualify would prompt him to retire, Farah said: “It’s a tough one. If I can’t compete with the best I’m not just going there to finish in a final. Tonight shows it’s not good enough.”
