Farah backs ban on Russian athletes from Games

LONDON: British distance running great Mo Farah on Friday followed fellow Olympic gold medalists Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis-Hill in supporting the ban on Russian track and field athletes from next month’s Olympic Games.

The 33-year-old Somalia-born dual Olympic champion — who was speaking on the eve of his returning to compete at the stadium where he won 5000 and 10000m Olympic golds in London in 2012 — added he felt some sympathy towards those athletes who will miss out despite being clean.

“We (in Great Britain) have very tight rules and I just wished other countries applied them,” Farah said at a press conference.

“Usain and myself and the rest of us, we work so hard and then something happens and it takes away our limelight. Nobody wants to see it, but we have to do what is right.

“All I want to be able to do is run against clean athletes fairly. There’s no point having one rule for one country and another for another country.” He added he felt for the athletes who had not cheated.