Mo Farah insists he is not fazed by personal criticism after an online question and answer session descended into farce in the run-up to his Great North Run title defence.
Farah, the double Olympic champion who is still basking in a golden glow after successfully defending his 5,000m and 10,000m titles in Rio, will end his season at the Newcastle to South Shields half marathon this weekend but the buildup took an unfortunate twist when a Twitter Q&A with the athlete saw the subject of doping raised by users.
Farah, 33, has continually faced questions about his coach, Alberto Salazar, and more recently his relationship with Jama Aden – previously an “unofficial facilitator” to the athlete in 2015 – who was arrested in Spain in June in connection with a drugs raid. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of Farah.
“It doesn’t really affect me,” Farah said of the myriad controversial remarks he received on Twitter. “I work hard at what I do, I try and be honest with people. All you can do in life is be honest.
“As an athlete when you get to a high level there comes a lot of questions. That’s part of it. But I did have some great messages from Sky, people are behind you, so many people cheering for you.
“You have to look at that. But at the same time, as an athlete you just have to focus on your running and do what I can. I know I work hard and make sacrifices, otherwise I wouldn’t achieve what I achieve. I’ll just keep working hard.”
Farah will attempt to secure three Great North Run victories in three years on Sunday, hoping to make a smooth transition from the track to the road after two stunning performances in Rio. He still plans to race on the track at next year’s World Championships in London, before potentially turning his attention to the marathon and Tokyo 2020.
Farah’s wife, Tania, will also compete in the mass participation run in the north-east this weekend and the Olympic champion said he has been training her hard. “It’s good to be back here. I am tired mentally, it’s been a long season, but it’s nice to finish at home. I love the quayside, the crowd get behind you and it’s pretty beautiful,” he added. “Tania’s excited, she’s excited. She’s been training reasonably well, I’ve been helping her, we’ll see on Sunday. She’s just going to have to go out and enjoy it. But it’s nice for her to experience what I experience, it’s a different level in terms of times but it’s the same course.
“Sometimes I have to take a couple of steps back. I don’t know why but sometimes I think that what I can do, everyone can do, but they can’t. That’s one thing I’ve realised. I’ve given her double runs and she’s like, ‘How is that possible?’”
Britain’s Lynsey Sharp has also been on the receiving end of online abuse in recent weeks following comments in the aftermath of the 800m Olympic final, where she finished sixth and recorded a personal best but was beaten by the South African Caster Semenya. Sharp, who will be competing over 500m at the Great North City Games in Newcastle on Saturday, said in Rio that the decision to overturn rules on testosterone suppression made competing against Semenya, and other hyperandrogenic athletes, difficult.
“Nothing I say is going to please people – it’s just a lose-lose situation,” Sharp said. “I don’t do this [compete] to get attention on social media. I don’t do this to get people’s praise. I do it because I enjoy it. But it takes away the fun of it so there’s no point in using it [Twitter].
“It’s been totally blown out of proportion. That’s why I’m not upset about it. I believe what I said was honest. I don’t think it was in any way racist. I didn’t deserve that reaction. It’s not my issue. It’s for the IAAF to deal with.”
