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MO FARAH’s hopes of winning the 39th London Marathon disappeared at the halfway point as Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge established himself as the race’s greatest performer.

The double Olympic champion, who has attracted negative headlines all week, achieved a personal best mark in just his fourth marathon appearance.

Mo Farah finished fifth in the London Marathon behind Eliud Kipchoge
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Mo Farah finished fifth in the London Marathon behind Eliud KipchogeCredit: Reuters
Eliud Kipchoge stormed to yet another London Marathon win
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Eliud Kipchoge stormed to yet another London Marathon winCredit: PA:Press Association

Yet the 36-year-old was nowhere near capable of matching the sheer power and brilliance of world-record holder Kipchoge, who won his FOURTH London Marathon in an unofficial course-record time of 2:02:37.

Incredibly, it was his 11th victory out of 12 competitive marathons.

Farah, who wore a "Sir Mo" name badge on his vest, was trying to become the first British male winner since Eamonn Martin in 1993.

But he had to settle for finishing in fifth place with an official time of 2:05:38 - almost 12 months after he came third in this race.

It was around the 13-mile mark, along the Highway on the road to Canary Wharf, where Kipchoge, 34, put his foot on the accelerator, recording a sensational four-minute 32-second split.

The remaining men could only attempt to hang on to his coattails.

Farah decided not to go with the main group and ended up falling behind by at least five seconds and then 30m back in no-man’s land.

At the 30km mark, he was 24 seconds behind Kipchoge and the other three runners.

TOKYO DRIFT

From there on, it was a question of whether he could close the gap on the leaders but it proved too great a gap to bridge in the second half of the race.

And for Farah, who harbours aspirations of winning the marathon at dawn in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, this is a stark reminder he has lots to learn and improve over the next 16 months.

Farah’s preparations were overshadowed by a high-profile and damaging row with athletics legend Gebrselassie.

The Brit legend revealed he had two mobiles, a Tag Heuer watch bought by his wife and more than £2,500 in cash were stolen on his 36th birthday when his travel bag was ransacked on an altitude training camp in a hotel owned by Gebrselassie.

Gebrselassie, 46, responded with a strong and lengthy statement accusing Farah of “attacking” a couple in a gym, “disgraceful” behaviour and organising a blackmail plot against him.

The former track-and-field star says Farah left his hotel without paying his reported service bill of £2,300 and never declared he had cash amounts more than £270, which is a hotel requirement.

Farah denies all these claims.

The two-time Olympic champion then claimed the origin of their row started two years ago when he allegedly told Farah he could not bring wanted fugitive, Jama Aden, into his hotel.

Farah’s camp deny that claim and say he has not seen or heard from the disgraced Somalian, who is wanted in Spain for doping offences.

"MO IS NO ANGEL"

Coach Gary Lough, the husband of marathon great Paula Radcliffe, reckons the negative headlines have not disrupted Farah’s preparations.

The Northern Ireland mentor said: “It has been an interesting couple of days, there have been a lot of allegations, mostly unfounded, some extravagation.

“It’s not all lies. I mean Mo is not any angel. There was a little bit of something that happened at one point.

“But the guy who was involved said it was a scuffle and that his wife wasn't involved.

“I think there have been a few slurs to try to bring him down this week, which was unfortunate. Mo is not shy in having a distraction.

“I’m disappointed some of this stuff has questioned his reputation and character. The rest of it, if something bothers him, it’s much more of an issue if it stays inside

“Maybe it didn’t come out the best way. The main thing is to get it off his chest and focus on it, it's by far the best scenario this week

“He is really good, cool, totally focused.”

KENYA'S Brigid Kosgei, who was second in 2018, won the women’s marathon race in a time of 2:18:20.

Last year’s champion Vivian Cheruiyot, also from Kenya, was second.

Seven minutes behind was 10th-placed Charlotte Purdue, who secured her spot at Tokyo with 2:25:38. Her time placed her third in Britain’s all-time women’s list.

Wheelchair David Weir was a disappointing fifth on his 20th consecutive London Marathon race, finishing 3mins 54sec behind American winner Daniel Romanchuk.

The South Londoner’s preparations had been hampered by a car crash in December and illness. The 39-year-old will hope he can make amends at the Tokyo Paralympics.

Mo Farah got underway in his quest to win the London Marathon
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Mo Farah got underway in his quest to win the London MarathonCredit: PA:Press Association
Mo Farah lined up just days after his row with Haile Gebrselassie
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Mo Farah lined up just days after his row with Haile GebrselassieCredit: PA:Press Association
Sir Mo is hoping to win his first-ever London Marathon
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Sir Mo is hoping to win his first-ever London MarathonCredit: PA:Press Association
Farah lined up for the London Marathon days after a heated row with Gebrselassie
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Farah lined up for the London Marathon days after a heated row with GebrselassieCredit: PA:Press Association
Farah claims he had valuable items stolen from Hailes hotel in Ethiopia
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Farah claims he had valuable items stolen from Haile's hotel in EthiopiaCredit: Simon Jones - The Sun
Mo Farah goes head to head with the man who is still the big favourite to win Sundays London Marathon - Eliud Kipchoge
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Mo Farah goes head to head with the man who is still the big favourite to win the London Marathon - Eliud KipchogeCredit: Alamy Live News
Mo Farah robbed of luxury watch and £2,500 cash in Ethiopia
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