British athletics great Mo Farah has said this year's London Marathon will likely be his last as he contemplates the end of a brilliant career.
The 40-year-old is best known for his success on the track winning gold in the 5,000 and 10,000 metres at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games, as well as several world titles across both distances.
And while his marathon career has reached nothing like the same heights, Farah is keen to run in London again after missing last year's edition even though he will be 40 by the time of the April 23 race
"It's been an amazing career and taking part in the London Marathon is a very big deal," he said in a statement issued by event organisers.
"I was gutted not to race last year and I just want to give it one more shot.
"It depends on my body. I just want to get to the start line and see what I can manage. I'm just taking one race at a time."
He added: "I'm not a spring chicken any more. You can't keep coming back in the right shape and, for me, I'd love to be able to finish it at home."
Farah has ruled out competing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, but may yet try to finish his time as a British international at this year's World Championships in Budapest.
"I'm not going to go to the Olympics and I think 2023 will be my last year," he added.
"But if it came down to it towards the end of the year and you did get picked for your country, I'd never turn that down."
Farah last ran in London in 2019, coming fifth, having finished third the year before.
"So it's been a little while," he said. "But I'll be preparing well, I'll head out to Ethiopia and put in a lot of solid training and see what I can do when it comes to April."
Farah says 2023 London Marathon will be his last
https://arab.news/gvm82
Farah says 2023 London Marathon will be his last
- Farah last ran in London in 2019, coming fifth, having finished third the year before
Johnson, Castle shine as Spurs rout Thunder 130-110
- The Thunder fell to 26-4 after the loss, while the Spurs improved to 22-7 to stay in second place in the West
- Anthony Edwards rattled in 38 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the New York Knicks 115-104 in Minneapolis
LOS ANGELES: Keldon Johnson and Stephon Castle combined for 49 points as the San Antonio Spurs produced a second-half scoring blitz to rout the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder 130-110 on Tuesday.
Ten days after eliminating the Thunder from the NBA Cup semifinals, the Spurs once again proved too strong for the Western Conference leaders as they powered to their seventh straight victory in San Antonio.
Starting shooting guard Castle finished with 24 points including four three-pointers but the key contribution came from Johnson, who added 25 off the bench including five threes.
The Thunder fell to 26-4 after the loss, while the Spurs improved to 22-7 to stay in second place in the West.
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama finished with 12 points while reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder scoring with 33 points.
“It shows how serious we are — we’ve got the same aspirations that they have, we just want to come out and compete every time we play them,” said Castle, who poured in 10 of his 24 points during the fourth quarter in which the Spurs outscored the Thunder 43-28.
The Denver Nuggets meanwhile missed the chance to close the gap on Oklahoma City after losing a thrilling duel 131-130 against the Dallas Mavericks on the road in Texas.
Mavericks prodigy Cooper Flagg once again stole the show, with the gifted 19-year-old No.1 draft pick scoring a game high 33 points with nine rebounds and nine assists.
Flagg’s performance was backed by 31 points from Anthony Davis as Dallas outdueled Nuggets duo Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, who accounted for 60 Denver points.
The Nuggets almost snatched victory at the buzzer, but Peyton Watson’s wide open three-point attempt bounced out after hitting the rim.
“We’re just coming together, trying to have each other’s backs,” Flagg said. “Obviously Jamal and (Jokic) had it going — so we were just trying to take those guys away and make somebody else beat us.”
Dallas improved to 12-19 while the Nuggets slipped to 21-8 in the West.
Flagg, meanwhile, took encouragement from another hard-fought win by the Mavs, who last week took down the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.
“We’re learning from all of these experiences,” Flagg said. “You know we’ve been in a lot of really close games, so just trying to take stuff from those games and learn from it and get better.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Anthony Edwards rattled in 38 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the New York Knicks 115-104 in Minneapolis.
Edwards knocked down four three-pointers while teammate Julius Randle added 25 points as the Wolves eclipsed a 40-point performance from Karl-Anthony Towns.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who scored 47 points in Sunday’s win over Miami, missed the game with a right ankle problem.
