LONDON: Athletics icons Mo Farah and Haile Gebrselassie are locked in an escalating dispute just days away from the London Marathon with claims of robbery and an alleged assault at the heart of the row.
Britain’s quadruple Olympic champion Farah, aiming to win Sunday’s race, went public at his pre-marathon press conference with claims Gebrselassie had made no effort to recover items stolen from his room at the Ethiopian’s hotel near Addis Ababa.
Farah was staying at the hotel in late March as part of training for Sunday’s prestigious race.
Gebrselassie — a two-time Olympic champion — hit back by accusing Farah of not paying his heavily discounted hotel bill and told The Guardian on Thursday Farah had been seen by several people punching and kicking a husband and his wife in the gym.
“Farah said to him (the husband): ‘Why are you following me?’” Gebrselassie told the Guardian, adding that the man had been copying Farah’s exercise routine.
“The guy said he wasn’t — and that he was just doing his work.
“Immediately Farah punched them and kicked them by foot. Especially the husband. There were lots of witnesses.”
Farah’s camp denied the allegations.
“There was an incident at the gym a number of weeks ago, at which Haile was not present but it was categorically not of Mo’s making,” a source close to Farah told The Guardian.
“He immediately raised a complaint to the highest level within the police force.
“The individuals concerned were warned that any further threatening behaviour towards Mo would result in police action.”
For his part Gebrselassie maintained that it was only thanks to his personal intervention police dropped an assault case against Farah.
The dispute was escalating as Farah was engaged in hardly ideal preparations for taking on world record holder and defending champion Eliud Kipchoge in Sunday’s marathon.
He alleged on Wednesday that around £2,500 pounds ($3,200) had been stolen on March 23 — his 36th birthday — from his hotel room along with a watch given to him by his wife Tania.
He had also earlier strongly dismissed Gebrselassie’s assault accusations, saying they were an effort to “distract from the situation, where members of his hotel staff used a room key and stole money and items from Mo Farah’s room”.
Gebrselassie denied the alleged robbery had been taken lightly, saying that five hotel staff were held in custody for three weeks while it was investigated.
“They were later released by legal bodies after they were found clear,” said Gebrselassie. —AFP