Mo Farah suggested he is ready to call time on his track career after being beaten by club runner Ellis Cross at the Vitality London 10,000 on Monday.
Four-time Olympic champion Farah finished four seconds behind Cross, who crossed the line in a time of 28 minutes and 40 seconds.
It was the 39-year-old's first race since June 2021 when failing to qualify for the Tokyo Games.
And after finishing a minute outside his best time on the road, Farah accepted that his elite track career may be over.
"I think for sure," he said. "I'm just being honest with you guys. In terms of track that's it, I think.
"Your body has to be ready. You have to be in the right frame of mind and compete with the guys. I love the sport and what I do, I've had a long career.
"The reality is that it has been so, so long. In my career, I've never been out that long before... Today was tough and Ellis did well to beat me."
Farah went on to say he has not yet ruled out competing in this year's Commonwealth Games or European Championships, but he will not take part in July's World Championships.
The six-time world champion added: "I'm not a spring chicken any more. You just can't come back from each session.
"I've got a lot of work to get back into it and race again and be in decent shape."
Colin Jackson hoping Paris 2024 could kick-start ‘new generation’ of GB talent
Olympic silver medallist Colin Jackson is convinced this summer’s Paris Games could give rise to a “new generation” of household names in British athletics.
The decorated Welshman secured a silver medal in the 110 metres hurdles at the 1988 Games in Seoul and five years later won gold at the world championships with a world record time of 12.91 seconds that would stand for 11 years.
Jackson, 57, accepts his friend Usain Bolt’s now hung-up spikes might occupy an unfillable place in athletics, but feels the sport is more than ready for new superstars to emerge – an occurrence he believes is only possible at an Olympics.
He told the PA news agency: “If we have a successful team, which it’s believed to be, and we get five or six medals, if we achieve a ‘Super Saturday’ as we did in London 2012, that will be another kick-start, because that signifies a new generation.
“We won’t be looking at Jess (Ennis-Hill), Mo (Farah), Greg (Rutherford) any more. You’re looking at the next generation, touching distance for all up-and-coming athletes, and us pre-historic athletes will be happy to celebrate their success.”
Bolt stepped away from competition in 2017, nine years after the 2008 Beijing Games where he became the first man in history to win 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay golds in world record times in the same Olympics.
The “fastest man on earth” would go on to defend his 100m and 200m titles at an unprecedented two successive Games at London 2012 and Rio 2016, becoming box-office viewing and one of the most recognisable names in sport.
Jackson said: “When Usain [broke through], it happened at the Olympic Games, so when you break through you have to break through on that Olympic level.
“The World Championships are great, fantastic, yes, but it’s that dream of the Olympic Games that will make it come true.
“[Usain] is once in a lifetime, seriously. As an athlete and a person, I’ve known him for a long time and he’s just brilliant. His professionalism is up and beyond. He’s just magic.
“When you see somebody with the physical talent like that but [also] the rest of the attributes to be a global superstar, you’ve just got to tip your hat to him.”
Jackson believes Paris’ proximity and UK-friendly time zone, combined with – unlike the coronavirus-restricted Tokyo 2020 Games – full houses and weeks of “wall-to-wall athletics” across both the Olympic and Paralympic Games could catapult his sport back into the spotlight.
Take your pick of talent, from Zharnel Hughes – tipped by Bolt himself as a contender for 100m gold in Paris – world champion Josh Kerr hoping to upgrade his 1500m Tokyo bronze, 2024 world indoor pole-vaulting champion Molly Caudery or Commonwealth T38 100m champion Olivia Breen, who Jackson feels has “stepped up her game” since winning T38 long jump bronze at the Tokyo Paralympics.
Jackson, now a regular commentator, has spent plenty of time around para athletes and saw his career take off alongside that of fellow Welsh athlete and prolific Paralympic champion Tanni Grey-Thompson.
Still, he admits it was not until he became the international sports director for the Wings for Life World Run, which raises funds for spinal cord injury research, that he truly began to appreciate some of the specific challenges those affected face, from difficulties regulating temperature to insufficient government support.
The event, backed by Allwyn in a three-year partnership, takes place on May 5 this year, with everyone departing at the same time – midday in the UK – regardless of time zone across the globe.
Anyone can take part in the event, which embraces walkers, wheelchair-users and anyone else looking to test themselves against an in-person or virtual ‘catcher car’, covering as much distance as they are able.
Jackson’s advice to participants feels just as poignant for the Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes poised for Paris.
“You should (always) be slightly disappointed,” he said. “Let me come back, work a little harder, just go a little bit further.
“Nothing is ever perfect, but excellence is good enough.”
Mo Farah signs off glittering career with fourth-place finish in Great North Run
Sir Mo Farah has completed the final race of his glittering career with a fourth-placed finish in the Great North Run.
The four-time Olympic champion announced he would be ending his career at the North East half-marathon earlier this year.
He finished in 1:03:28 with Ethopia’s Tamirat Tola winning the men’s elite race, finishing just shy of the hour mark with a time of 59 minutes and 58 seconds.
Farah has previously won the race six times and was greeted by vast crowds of people lining the Coast Road, offering high fives as he approached the finish line.
He told the BBC post-race: “Amazing support. It is the end of my career. I wanted to come here and celebrate. It has been an amazing career.
“I wanted to end my career here in Newcastle. I won here six times. I wanted to take it all in and enjoy it.
“All I know is running. That is what made me happy for many years.”
On this day in 2011: Mo Farah wins World Championship gold in Daegu
Britain’s Mo Farah secured gold in the 5,000 metres at the World Championships in Daegu on this day in 2011.
Having lost the 10,000m just seven days earlier, Farah managed to hold off competition from American Bernard Lagat to win the 5,000m in 13 minutes 23.36 seconds.
The Briton had faced competition from Dejen Gebremeskel, but the Ethiopian began to face with 100m to go and despite a late surge from Lagat, Farah held on to become the first British man to win a world title over 5,000m.
“I’m very proud, I just can’t believe it,” Farah said after winning the race.
“I just had to go out there and do what I did in the 10k but just get it right this time.
“I just want to thank everyone who’s helped me. It’s great to have my family behind me.
“I’ve made a lot of sacrifices, moving away from home where it’s comfortable relative to everything else and I’m glad I made that choice because it’s working. I’ve got the gold now. It just feels amazing.”
Farah had moved his family to Oregon in the United States to work with coach Alberto Salazar earlier in the year. Salazar has been banned from coaching since 2019 following an investigations by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
Farah won double gold at the 2012 Olympics in London the following year before retaining his 5,000m and 10,000m titles at Rio 2016.
The six-time World Champion has confirmed that the Great North Run, taking place next Sunday, will be his final race.
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