Mo Farah
DOB: 23/03/1983 Events: 5,000m & 10,000m Residence: Portland, Oregon Flag: GBR
Last Updated: 24/07/12 12:10pm
Somali-born Mo Farah is one of the world's most-improved long-distance runners in recent seasons and now appears a genuine medal contender for Britain at London 2012.
Also adept on the road or over cross-country, Farah will be focusing on long-distance events on the track at London with the 5,000m and 10,000m the disciplines in which he will be attempting to secure a first medal at world or Olympic level.
Farah's first major international medal came in July 2006 when he collected silver medal in the European Championship 5,000m in Gothenburg, but he would suffer disappointment at the 2008 Beijing Olympics as he was knocked out before the final.
But gold in the 2009 European Indoor Athletics Championships 3,000m event provided the platform for Farah to really push on and the following year his major breakthrough came when he achieved the 5,000m and 10,000m double at the European Championship in Barcelona - becoming only the sixth man in history to do so.
In March 2011, the 28-year-old retained his European Indoor 3,000m crown and then moved his family out to the United States to work with coach Alberto Salazer on a new training regime he labelled, 'The Oregon Project'.
The move seems to have worked wonders for Farah who is unbeaten since his switch to America and set at a a new British and European record for the 10,000m at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon in June 2011.
He will now be hoping to maintain his superb form until London next year where he will be looking to crown his remarkable improvement with gold on home soil.
