Teacher: 'Mo Farah fought against running'

Mo Farah's former PE teacher has said that the long-distance runner wanted to become a professional footballer.

Alan Watkinson needed to persuade Farah to become an athlete, who "fought against" the idea.

"He fought against it a little bit for a couple of years, he wanted to play football, he just wanted to play football," Watkinson told BBC Sport.

"He didn't quite get, in the first instance, what athletics was all about. I think he's a convert now."

Farah successfully defended both his 5000m and 10000m titles at the World Athletics Championships.

Written by
Jonathan McIntosh