Mo Farah returns with 5,000m victory in Diamond League event in Lausanne

Mo Farah made a winning return to action with a confident victory in the 5,000 metres at the Athletissima Diamond League event in Lausanne.

The 32-year-old was running for the first time since doping allegations were made about his coach Alberto Salazar, but he put his off-track concerns behind him as he charged home ahead of Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia in a meeting record time of 13 minutes 11.77 seconds.

The win has, however, been overshadowed by reports of a bust-up with his GB team-mate Andy Vernon after the race.

Vernon apparently approached Farah to offer an olive branch following their spat earlier this year but Farah allegedly refused to shake his hand and issued a four-letter expletive. 

Farah, who has been caught up in the doping storm despite none of the accusations made being about him, raced in mid-division in the early stages of his first race for 41 days as a couple of pacemakers went clear.

The contest hotted up with four laps remaining and Farah went to the front with three laps left.

The dual Olympic and world champion had his rivals queueing up behind him, but they gradually fell by the wayside and only Kejelcha remained as a serious challenger as they embarked on the final lap.

The 17-year-old sprinted to the front down the back straight but Farah kept him in his sights and the Briton retook the lead entering the final 100 metres before kicking clear, punching the air with a big smile on his face as he crossed the line in the distinctive black kit of the Nike Oregon Project.

Kejelcha, who has the fastest time of the year so far, was second in 13:12.59 with Kenyan Edwin Cheruiyot Soi third in 13:17.17, while Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet and Kenya's Thomas Longosiwa did not start.

"This is what I work for, the crowd were great," said Farah, who pulled out of the Birmingham Diamond League meet in early June to return to his US training base to confront Salazar over the allegations which the American has denied.

"I had a great finish. Overall I am happy with the way the race went today. This victory is also a way to answer some of the critics regarding my coach that came out lately."

Farah is building up to the defence of his 5,000m and 10,000m titles at the World Championships in Beijing and he will face another test when he races over 1,500m in Monaco in eight days' time before returning to the Olympic Stadium in London to compete over 3,000m at the Sainsbury's Anniversary Games the following week.