Briton Farah bidding for second track gold

Barcelona: Britain’s Mo Farah is going for a distance-running double at the European championships on Saturday when he bids to add the 5,000 metres gold to the 10,000 title he claimed on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Somali-born athlete’s main rival is likely to be local favourite Jesus Espana of Spain, in a re-run of the final at the 2006 edition when Farah had to settle for silver and Espana took gold. In the heptathlon, Farah’s British team mate Jessica Ennis is in a strong position to add the continental title to her gold at the world championships in Berlin last year. The 24-year-old has a 110-point advantage over Ukraine’s Nataliya Dobrynska with three of eight events left. “I came here knowing it wouldn’t be easy and they are pushing me all the way -- particularly Dobrynska,” Ennis told the BBC on Friday after running a season-best 23.21 in the 200 metres. “I’ll just keep my fingers crossed,” she added ahead of Saturday’s long jump, javelin and 800 metres. The day begins with the women’s marathon at 0805 GMT, which this year ends in the centre of the Catalan capital instead of the traditional stadium finish. In the men’s events, there are finals in the pole vault (1600), shot put (1630), 800 metres (1735), javelin (1805) and 400 metres hurdles (1810). The other women’s finals are the triple jump (1710), 200 metres (1750) and 100 metres hurdles (1825). Bureau Report