Farah on course for track return after declining marathon spot at Worlds

A quadruple Olympic gold medallist over 5000m and 10,000m, Farah retired from track athletics to focus on the marathon in 2017 – finishing fifth at the London Marathon this past weekend, over three minutes behind the great Eliud Kipchoge.

He has hinted at a return to the track in recent months and after declining one of the two men's marathon places in the British team for the Worlds in Doha, Qatar – which run from September 27-October 6 – his decision appears to have been made.

Callum Hawkins, who recorded a personal best in London on Sunday and finished fourth at the 2017 World Championships, and Dewi Griffiths are thus the two men selected by British Athletics, with Charlotte Purdue and Tish Jones going in the women's marathon.

Cameron Corbishley and Dominic King have also been chosen for the men's 50km race walk and British Athletics performance director Neil Black is convinced the selected sextet can thrive.

He said: "I am pleased to announce the first athletes selected for the British team for the IAAF World Championships in Doha later this year following what has been a high-quality qualifying period.

"Each of the six athletes selected have performed extremely well to confirm their places in Doha, many setting personal bests and establishing themselves among the UK's best all-time in their events.

"The IAAF World Championships in Doha are a very important marker ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and we look forward to being as competitive as possible in both events."

Sportsbeat 2019