adminMO Farah has revealed he had to be airlifted to hospital after collapsing following a training run.
The Olympic 5 000m and 10 000m champion, who competes at this week’s European Championships in Zurich, says the incident forced him to miss the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
“I had a tooth taken out and it got infected. I went for a run, came back and collapsed. I was in so much pain from my stomach. I had to be airlifted to hospital,” said 31-year-old Farah.
He continued: “They thought something was going on with my heart.”
Farah, who collapsed at the end of the New York Half Marathon in March, said he was “completely knocked out” by his most recent scare.
“I had my phone in my pocket, so when I woke up I rang Cam (Levins), my training partner. He helped me up and got me on the bed,” he said.
“It was crazy. I was in hospital (in Utah) for four days.”
He added: “I had no-one there. I was in Park City by myself. We had to decide whether to get flights for (wife) Tania and the kids. I have been in pain. This was ridiculous. I couldn’t take it. That is why they thought there was something going wrong with my heart.”
Those fears were unfounded, although it cost Farah any chance of competing at last month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Farah’s decision was greeted with dismay by some fans – unaware of the circumstances – who had bought tickets for the Games, expecting to see one of Great Britain’s Olympic stars.
“It was scary at the time. But things happen and you deal with it. I missed quite a lot of running. I wanted to continue the road to the Commonwealth Games. I did not want to disappoint my fans. I knew people had bought tickets. But I wasn’t ready.”
He added: “I did one track session. Paula (Radcliffe) was timing me and she told me to stop. She had seen it. I wasn’t right. Later on, Paula said I’d taken the easy option withdrawing from the Commonwealth Games, which is not fair as she’d seen me struggle.
“If I am going to turn up, I have to be 100 percent. I am not going to get beaten at home.”
Farah, who has fully recovered now, said he was so upset at missing out that he did not watch any of the Games on television.
“I didn’t see anything. It was too painful. I would have loved to have been there. But there was no way.”
Farah will compete at the European Championships in Zurich this August and is hoping to start making his mark on the track again after a season in which his marathon debut, at London in April, ended in a disappointing eighth-place finish.
“The Europeans are not easy at all. Hopefully, the extra couple of weeks have been good for me. This year I need to do something.” – BBC.
Online Reporter