Mo Farah cleared the way for another gold medal attempt as he qualified for the final of the 5,000 metres at the World Championships in Beijing, although, as in the 10,000 metres final, he had to survive a trip along the way.
Farah was caught mid-race as he was running in the pack but, as in last Saturday’s final - when his stumble came on the last lap - he stayed on his feet.
“I nearly went down … again. I hope it doesn’t become third time bad luck,” Farah said.
“Somebody caught my leg. I’ve got a long stride, it’s the way I run. I don’t blame anyone but even in training sometimes my training partners catch my leg which is why I sometimes have to be on the front or the back, or stay on the outside.
“Even if I went down at that point, I looked at the laps and I thought I was OK. I felt all right, I felt good.”
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Farah said he would, in preparation for the final on Saturday, have an ice bath before spending “two days in my room, playing PlayStation, chilling out, watching a bit of athletics.”
He watched with the rest of the Great Britain team in the hotel as Greg Rutherford won his long jump gold medal on Tuesday night, meaning that Farah, Rutherford and Jessica Ennis-Hill, the three winners from Super Saturday at London 2012, had all struck gold here.
“I was at the hotel cheering him [Rutherford] on. It’s been an amazing team spirit, incredible,” Farah added.
The double Olympic champion crossed the line second in a bunch finish in the last of the two heats in a time of 13min 19.44sec. The heat was more than 25 seconds faster than the first, meaning that the first ten finishers went through. Tom Farrell, the British runner, also qualified for the final after finishing fourth in the first heat, in 13:45.29.
Farah believes that there are several contenders for gold “There are three or four guys capable of winning,” he said.
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“You’ve got three Ethiopians in the final and two Kenyans. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have to get ready. Tom’s there as well so it’s good to have two of us.”
Lynsey Sharp, Shelayna Oskan-Clarke and Jenny Meadows all reached the semi-finals of the women’s 800 metres. Sharp recorded her fastest time of the season, 1:58.98, as she was the second-fastest qualifier, coming second in the opening heat behind Marina Arzamasova, the Belarussian, who beat her in the final of the European Championships in Zurich last summer.
“I’ve just been sitting watching everyone else compete, so it was just nice to get out on to the track eventually,” Sharp said.
“I knew being the first heat it would be fast and I just had to cover any moves anyone made. I knew there were a couple of girls who would take it out hard, so I just covered everything, and felt good.
“I know I am in the best shape of my life so I have to get the job done first to make the final, and then once I’m in the final anything can happen.”
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Sophie Hitchon reached the final of the women’s hammer, throwing 71.07 metres, the eighth-best qualifier. Lawrence Clarke is through to the semi-finals of the 110 metres hurdles after finishing fourth in his heat in 13.61sec.