Farah denied in thrilling finale to Great North Run
BRITAIN’S Mo Farah suffered a rare defeat in yesterday’s Great North Run, finishing a close second to Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele.
Double world and Olympic champion Farah produced his trademark late surge but could not overtake Bekele in a gripping finale. Distance-running great Haile Gebrselassie was third in a world record time for over-40s.
“When Kenenisa went with a mile to go, I thought the pace was ridiculous,” said Farah. “I thought I could come back. It came to the last 200m, right to the line. It was a great race and a great finish. I’m disappointed but I was second to a great athlete.”
Kenya’s Priscah Jeptoo ran the third fastest women’s half-marathon of all time and narrowly missed out on the course record. Ethiopians Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba finished second and third.
Britons won both the men’s and women’s wheelchair races, with David Weir enjoying victory for the fourth time and Shelly Woods claiming her fifth.