MOSCOW: Mo Farah ran himself into history in the Luzhniki stadium when, at the World Athletics Championships, he became only the second man in history to complete an Olympic and world ‘double-double’ in the distance events.

The British 30-year-old held on in a thrilling finish to add the 5,000m title to the 10,000m gold he won on Saturday. Farah held off Kenyan Isiah Kiplangat Koech down the home straight to win in 13min 26.99sec.

Farah said: “I never thought in my career I would achieve something like this. It was very tough – it was all left to the last two laps. I had a lot of pressure but at the same time I enjoy it.

“I am very proud to represent my country and hold the Union Jack. To all the people who give me great support I can’t thank you enough. Thank you to all the people back home – I am very proud.”

The historic feat in Moscow concludes an incredible 12 months for Britain’s greatest distance runner, who has now matched the feats of Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele.

Multiple world record holder Bekele claimed double gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and repeated his exploits at the Berlin World Championships a year later to join his compatriot Haile Gebrselassie on the list of history’s distance running greats.

Before the start of these championships, Farah was level with triple jumper Jonathan Edwards and decathlete Daley Thompson with three major championship titles, but he moved above them in the space of a magnificent six days in the Russian capital.

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