British star is only the second man in history to retain two Olympic distance titles following his exploits at London 2012
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MOHAMED FARAH believes he will never finish in the top THREE for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.
Farah is arguably now Britain’s greatest ever sportsman having done the Olympic distance double-double in Rio – with calls for him to receive a knighthood.
The British star became only the second man in history after Lasse Viren in 1976 to retain two Olympic distance titles following his exploits at London 2012.
He is also the first British athlete to win three Olympic golds on the track, something even stars such as Seb Coe and Daley Thompson never achieved let alone FOUR, and now has nine global titles in a row.
But despite his exploits at London 2012 and following that up with two titles at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and in Beijing last year he has NEVER been in the top three for SPOTY. And he believes he never will.
He said: “I’ve never been in the top three of Sports Personality. And I won’t be in the top three again. You have just got to accept what it is.
“What drives me is winning medals and just going out there and enjoy it.
“The public do get behind me. And whenever I compete in Britain they give me massive support. The cheers at the Anniversary Games in London before I came out here.
Publicly Farah has put on a brave face but privately he is understood to have been hurt at not making the final three.
In 2012 Bradley Wiggins won the award with Farah’s fellow Super Saturday team-mate Jessica Ennis-Hill second and Andy Murray third. Farah finished fourth in the voting.
In 2013 Murray took top honors after winning Wimbledon for the first time with Welsh rugby union ace Leigh Halfpenny second and Tony McCoy third.
Farah, who won two world titles in Moscow, was fourth again.
In 2014 Lewis Hamilton picked up the award with Rory McIlroy second and Jo Pavey third. Farah admittedly missed the Commonwealth Games through injury though returned to compete at the Europeans.
And last year the main gong again went to Andy Murray with rugby league star Kevin Sinfield the runner-up and Jessica Ennis-Hill third. Farah was seventh despite achieving back to back double world titles.
He said: “I don’t know if I’m the greatest distance runner ever, I leave that to the public and you guys.
“Haile Gebrselassie has said this is Mo’s time. I’m not going to always be on top of my game always so this is my moment and I’m just going to have to make the most of it, enjoy it.
“Then there will be someone else, like Haile or Kenenisa (Bekele).
“I’m just proud of what I’ve achieved over the years. It’s been a long journey and it’s been up and down. But one thing that really drives me, I enjoy what I do and you can’t take that away from me.
“I want to continue winning medals and making my nation proud. That’s what I do.”
Source: The Sun
