Mo Farah: Four-time Olympic champion to compete in London Marathon in 2019

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah says he would like to be in Tokyo in 2020

Britain’s Mo Farah will run in next year’s London Marathon on 28 April, organisers have announced.

The four-time Olympic 5,000m and 10,000m champion was third in this year’s race, his first over the 26.2-mile distance since quitting the track.

Farah, 35, finished in two hours, six minutes and 21 seconds to break Steve Jones’ 33-year-old British record.

Farah won October’s Chicago Marathon in a new European record and wants to race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Racing in London is very special to me and the London Marathon gives me the chance to run in front of my fans, on my home roads, where the atmosphere is like nothing else,” he said.

“I feel I have made great strides in the past year, finishing third in London in April, and winning my first major marathon in Chicago in October. That and breaking both the British and European records has given me the confidence that I can compete against the best marathon runners in the world.”

The Somali-born Londoner won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award in 2017 four months after winning his sixth world title on the track – the 10,000m in London – and then announcing his retirement to focus on marathon running.

Farah won 10 Olympic and World gold medals and two silvers during six years of track domination at major championships and also claimed a record fifth successive Great North Run in September.