Four Olympic golds and a knighthood: A timeline of Mo Farah’s career

Sir Mo Farah has announced his retirement after a final race in the Great North Run.

The 40-year-old’s time in athletics included four Olympic gold medals as we look back at a timeline of Mo Farah’s career.

2006 – Farah claims his first major medal when he wins 5,000m silver at the European Championships in Gothenburg.

2007 – At the World Championships in Osaka, Farah finished sixth in the 5,000m in 13 minutes and 47.54 seconds.

2008 – Farah steps up to the 10,000m but failed to reach the final of the 5,000m at the Beijing Olympics.

2009 – He wins gold in the 3,000m at the European Indoor Championships in Turin. At the World Championships he faded to finish seventh in the 5,000m but it was still the best by a European finisher.

2010 – The first major title of Farah’s career comes in the 10,000m at the European Championships before taking the 5,000m crown. In August, at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich, Farah ran 12 mins and 57.94 secs in the 5,000m to break David Moorcroft’s long-standing British record and become the first ever British athlete to run under 13 minutes.

2011 – He relocates to Portland, Oregon, to work with new coach Alberto Salazar in February before winning gold in the 5,000m at the World Championships in Daegu along with 10,000m silver.

2012 – Arguably the highlight of Farah’s career was at London 2012 where he was part of Super Saturday for Team GB when he won 10,000m gold. A week later he made it a double with the 5,000m title. Earlier in the summer he won the 5,000m at the European Championships.

2013 – He was awarded a CBE in the New Year honours list and more global titles followed with 10,000m and 5,000m victories in Moscow.

2014 – Farah runs his first London Marathon and finishes eighth but pulls out of the Commonwealth Games after having a tooth removed. He recovers to win 5,000m and 10,000m at the European Championships in Zurich.

2015 – He became the oldest 10,000m world champion when taking the title in Beijing and also defended his 5,000m crown.

2016 – Farah became the first Briton to win three athletic Olympic gold medals when he defended the 10,000m title in Rio. He then completed the double double to retain the 5,000m gold.

2017 – He was awarded a knighthood in the New Year honours list. After winning the 10,000m at the World Championships in London, Farah retired from the track to focus on the marathon and split from Salazar.

2018 – Farah finishes third in the London Marathon and goes on to win in Chicago and set a new European record of two hours, five minutes and 11 seconds.

2019 – Farah announces he plans to return to the track to defend his 10,000m Olympic title at the Tokyo Games.

2021 – With Tokyo postponed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Farah tries to hit the qualifying time but, in Birmingham in June, he missed out. A race was arranged for him at the British Championships in Manchester but he was 19 seconds off the qualifying time.

2023 – In the final race of Farah’s career, he finishes fourth in the Great North Run.