LONDON: Britain’s double Olympic champion Mohamed Farah will run in the 3,000 metres at this month’s London Anniversary Games as he prepares for the world championships in Beijing starting in August.

Farah, who is aiming to successfully defend his world 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles next month in China, believes the meet at the Olympic Stadium on July 24 comes at an ideal time.

“The race will be exciting on the Friday night at the Olympic Stadium. My training is going well and it is just what I need to prepare more for the IAAF World Championships,” he told the British Athletics website.

“This year’s World Championships are hugely important to me and the 3,000 metres at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games will be the best possible preparation.”

The worlds will take place from Aug 22 to 30.

Farah, 32, withdrew from last month’s Diamond League meet in Birmingham citing stress over doping allegations faced by his coach Alberto Salazar, who has denied any wrongdoing.

“I can’t wait to run in front of a home crowd again and thank the British public for all their support,” said Farah, who won gold in the 5,000 and 10,000m at the London Olympics.

“I hope that the fans will come out and cheer me on at the Olympic Stadium. Knowing how it felt to run in that stadium in 2012 and 2013 means I can’t wait to round off my World Championships build up with a successful run in front of the best spectators in the world,” he added.

“The Olympic Stadium feels like home to me. ‘Super Saturday’ at the London 2012 Olympic Games when Jess Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford and I all won gold medals for our country was the finest hour for athletics in Britain,” Farah said.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2015

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