BARCELONA (28-Jul) -- Mo Farah became the first British man to win a European 10,000m title as the 20th European Championships in Athletics opened here yesterday at the renovated Olympic Stadium.
Farah, 27, the silver medallist at these championships over 5000m in 2006 by just 9/100ths of a second, won a tactical race in 28:24.99, nearly a minute slower than the championship record of 27:30.99 set by Finland's Martti Vainio in 1978. The race went out in a sluggish 2:59.70 for the first kilometer, and halfway in a slightly better 14:38.10. Farah, with his teammate Chris Thompson, took control of the pace in the second half. With two laps to go, Farah pulled clear of the field with Spain's Ayad Lamdassem. It looked like he and the Spaniard would fight it out for the win.
But Lamdassem faltered, and would finish fourth. That left Thompson and Italy's Daniele Meucci to fight it out for the silver medal. In a furious sprint, both men were timed in 28:27.33, but Thompson was given second place and Meucci third.
"I was second four years ago and I have all those memories still in my head because I was beaten by less than half a second then," Farah told European Athletics after the race. "To take that and live with it for so long and now to do what I've done, it wasn't easy."
Thompson was happy to take the silver. "To finish second behind this guy is an absolute honor," said Thompson who is based in Eugene, Ore., and coached by Mark Rowland.
Although Farah was the first British man to win the 10,000m title at these championships, Paula Radcliffe won the women's title in 2002 in Munich. In heavy rain, Radcliffe ran a championships record of 30:01.09, still the #6 time in history.
The women's 10,000m race will be held here tonight.
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