Taking the lead with 700m to go, Farah staved off all challenges and, riding incessant howls of encouragement, swept away on the home straight. He threw his hands wide in victory, slapped his head and screamed out loud in amazement after he crossed the line.
Again, David Bowie’s Heroes blared over the speakers, just like it did the previous Saturday when British athletes won three gold within an hour. Without doubt, Farah made a great Olympics for Britain even more unforgettable.
“The crowd were amazing, they made an unbelievable noise,” Farah said. “Two gold medals, who would have thought that?”
His competitors, too, felt the power of the home fans.
“The crowd helped him. He ran 100 percent and they added another 10,” said fourth-placed finisher Bernard Lagat of the US. “So you had a guy running at 110 percent.”
Dejen Gebremeskel of Ethiopia threatened until 50m out, but he faded to take silver. Thomas Longosiwa of Kenya won bronze.
Little more than an hour earlier, Russia’s Yelena Lashmanova had claimed the third world record of the Games in the 20km walk.
Lashmanova walked past teammate and defending champion Olga Kaniskina within sight of the finish to clock 1 hour, 25 minutes, 2 seconds and win the Olympic gold medal. She improved on the one-year-old world mark by six seconds.
David Rudisha in the 800m and the US women’s 4x100m relay team had previously set new world records in the Olympic Stadium.
World champion Mariya Savinova of Russia won the 800m title, beating Caster Semenya of South Africa.
Russia’s brilliant day was capped when Anna Chicherova cleared 2.05m to win the women’s high jump.
The victories gave Russia eight gold medals to further cement their second-place standing in the athletics medals table, just one behind the US.
It all started under a glorious morning sunshine in The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace, when Sergei Kirdyapkin won the 50km walk.
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