Mo Farah ran one of the strangest races of his life to successfully defend the 10,000m Olympic title here at the Rio Olympics. He showed an awesome kick on the final bend to leave a panting Paul Tanui in his wake, winning in 27:05.17. But before that, Mo Farah even survived a mid-race, mid-pack tumble - unfazed, he picked himself up and joined the run. It was just one in a series of strange events unfolding for the man who's shy demeanour of London four years ago had given way to a more seasoned steel here at the Olympic Stadium.
The Britisher sat back for the first five laps of the mammoth 25-lap race, happy to trail at last place, almost as if he wanted to direct the show from the far end of the field. It may have rattled the early pace-setters as the Ethiopian Yigrem Demelash, Eritrean Zerseany Tadese and the little Peruvian Luis Ostos traded the lead among themselves.
The Kenyans then pushed a gear with Paul Tanui and Geoffrey Kamworor beginning a familiar regional joust with the Ethiopians Tamirat Tola and Demelash for who would stay ahead of the pack, even as it slowly began to thin away - the real contenders breaking away from rest. Always figuring in the fray was the US runner, Galen Rupp whose burly physique belied his staying power in this unforgiving run. Even in all this, Farah was happily lounging at the back of the class, like some oversmart schoolboy who knows all the answers to the quiz but is too lazy to bother.
When he finally did decide to join the fun, well into the sixth lap, at around 2500m, he snatched lead, just for a lark from the Ethiopian Tola. His barging in caused a mild flurry in the leaderpack, with the Kenyans deciding it was time to get serious about the whole thing. They kind of bunched together - old rivals, Ethiopians and Kenyans in a strange mid-race solidarity.
There was the Ugandan Moses Kurong who kept bobbing up in the equation, and around the halfway mark a mid-pack crunch saw Farah go sprawling on the track. It didn't deter him. Getting up as if nothing had happened, he was immediately on the heels of the leading four.
Farah was happy to stay at fourth till the penultimate lap, at around 9,500m where he began steaming in, to pass Demelash and glide past Tanui. The Kenyan pulled back on the back straight of the 24th lap, but Farah wouldn't let go.
Finally, as the bell for the final lap was sounded, Farah began a kick out of nowhere, something he had kept hidden all this while, summoning when he finally needed it. Tanui had no answer but keep the fight going even as the steam was fading.
On the final bend, Farah's now magical kick came into play. He powered on, Tanui looking like some pretender who lost his way into his mix. To think, he clocked his season's best of 27:05.64 even as Farah disappeared in a smoke to take the tape.
