Mo Farah claims victory in 5,000-metre to bag double gold in European Championships

London: British Olympic track champion Mo Farah, who won the 10,000-metre gold earlier last week, claimed the half-distance gold ahead of Hayle Ibrahimov and teammate Andy Vernon at the European Athletics Championships.

Farah won is 10th major championship gold in just five years to cap a sensational day for Britain`s rampant athletics team. It was a second European double for Farah, already the double Olympic and World -champion, which reaffirmed his greatness inside the Stadion Letzigrund. A fifth career European medal also marked Farah down as the most successful athlete in the history of these Championships, The Mirror reported. But on a day of dizzying success for Britain, Farah`s 5,000-metre triumph was but a stepping-stone to a greater glory. Team GB won five gold medals in the space of 102 minutes, which saw the British athletes topping the medal table for the third time in the 80-year history of the Euros with 23 gongs in all. And they did it with a haul which smashed their previous best of 19, their total of 12 golds three more than ever before. Jubilant Great Britain boss Neil Black said that one has to understand the effort, the pain, and the trials and tribulations behind it, adding that to get these guys confident, to get them slick, has not been easy. He said that the athletes should be really happy. Farah`s tally of two gold medals was matched by Adam Gemili and Martyn Rooney, who followed up individual titles in the 200-metre and 400-metre by anchoring their relay quartets to glory. There was an 8.29-metre leap by Greg Rutherford, which gave him a European gold to set alongside his Olympic and Commonwealth long jump titles. And a British record for the women`s sprint relay team, whose time of 42.24 seconds beat a mark which had stood since the Moscow Olympics 34 years ago. The turnaround from the Commonwealth Games, where the only two able-bodied British athletes to win gold medals were Rutherford and pole-vaulter Steve Lewis, was dramatic. Farah, who was not in Glasgow and came here with a point to prove, took to the track on Sunday with a stated goal of proving that he is back. Farah did just that, putting in a 52.3sec last lap to leave his 5,000-metre rivals for dead and win in a time of 14 minutes 5.82 seconds ahead of third-placed teammate Andy Vernon. Farah said that this means a lot for him after going through the marathon, getting ill, missing the Commonwealths, adding that history is important to him and it feels great to make his country proud.