FARAH AND LYNE LEAD BRITISH CHALLENGE
By David Martin, PA Sport, Stuttgart
Farah, who lost the men’s European 5,000 metres gold medal by a stride in Gothenburg last month and Lyne, who took bronze in the women’s 800m, are among Britain’s top medal hopes at the prestigious event.
They will be joined by Jo Pavey racing over 3,000m, 400m hurdler Tasha Danvers-Smith and multi-eventer Kelly Sotherton who tackles the long jump.
Farah is maintaining a low profile despite showing signs of late that he is developing into a world-class athlete.
The 23-year-old Somalia-born athlete admitted the transition from being European junior 5,000m champion five years ago has been difficult, mainly because of injuries.
“It took longer than I thought and was difficult, as I suffered from injuries which my body couldn’t carry,” said Farah.
But having this year steered clear of these problems and linking up with world 5,000m bronze medallist Craig Mottram and the Australian’s training group, he has made a phenomenal transition.
Farah, the only athlete not representing an African country in tomorrow’s 3,000m final, is adamant he has benefited massively from this venture, which has seen him become the UK’s second-best 5,000m performer behind David Moorcroft.
The advice and encouragement Mottram passes on each day at their west London training base, has given him a new appetite to challenge African domination – and there will be 11 of them lined up against him in the Gottlieb-Daimler Stadium.
Farah said: “I’m happy to be here. Even a month ago I didn’t dream I would be, but things have changed almost overnight.”
Now Europe’s fastest 3,000m performer this summer is gearing up for combat against his much more famous rivals, headed by the Kenyan trio of Eliud Kipchoge, Isaac Songok and Joseph Ebuya.
“If Craig can mix it up with them so can I,” Farah added.
“You have to believe in yourself and with that confidence, I believe I can get back all the hard work I’ve put in.
“There’s no point in training if you don’t believe you can beat them. You have to respect them – but also believe one day it will come.”
Lyne faces a daunting task against Olympic 800m silver medallist Hasna Benhassi plus Zulia Calatayud.
But the former European Under-23 champion has performed admirably in everyone of her races and once again is prepared to go under the two minutes barrier for a sixth time since mid-June.
Lyne admitted: “I wouldn’t say it’s comfortable running under two minutes, it has always hurt.
“Now having done it, it’s no longer an issue – I used to be paranoid about it. But once I did it I began to believe in myself,” said Lyne, whose fastest mark is one minute 58.20 seconds.
“Everything has been a stepping stone and I’m still going strong. I’m learning what pain I can accept.”
Source: SportingLife, Sept 8, 2006
