Mo Farah

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.”

Britain’s greatest distance runner posted a time of 29 minutes and 11 seconds as he took part in the event for the first time since winning it in 2018.

Farah had previously been in action at the London Marathon last month, finishing ninth.

And following his exploits on Sunday, the 40-year-old is now set to retire after featuring in September’s Great North Run.

Farah’s glittering career has seen him claim double Olympic gold over 5,000m and 10,000m at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, as well as six world titles.

The British long-distance runner – a four-time Olympic gold medallist – covered 21,330 metres in 60 minutes, beating the previous best of 21,285m set by Haile Gebrselassie in 2007.

In his first attempt at breaking the record, Farah stepped things up after finding himself around 10 metres behind Gebrselassie's pace at the midway point.

Bashir Abdi overtook Farah with five minutes remaining but the 37-year-old powered back in the final 60 seconds to claim his first world record.

Farah was competing for the first time since October's Chicago Marathon and is now preparing for the 10,000m event at next year's rearranged Olympic Games in Tokyo.

"That's incredible. I'm very happy to break the world record today," he said in an on-track interview.

"Me and Bashir Abdi worked together. I'm so pleased for him and for myself and what an amazing way to do it and show the people what is possible.

"I feel tired but at the same time in the middle part of the race we had to work hard. 

"I wasn't sure what we were doing and had to help each other and get through it and it's nice to break a world record."

Meanwhile, Sifan Hassan set a new best distance of 18,930m in the women's equivalent event, breaking the record of 18,517m held by Dire Tune since 2008.

Farah, who won gold in the 10,000m and 5,000m races at both the 2012 and 2016 Games, needed to beat a time of 27 minutes 28 seconds to qualify.

Despite winning the 10,000m race on day one of the British Championships, Farah clocked a time of 27:47:04 – a stadium record at Manchester Regional Arena but not enough for Olympic qualification.

Farah had been struggling with an ankle injury that hindered his attempts in an Olympic trial in Birmingham earlier this month, though it had reportedly cleared up ahead of the Manchester event.

"I have had a wonderful career," he said when asked if it could mark the end of his track career.

"It is a tough one – if I can't compete with the best, I am not going there to just finish a final. It wasn't good enough tonight.

"It was quite windy. I tried to push and push. I knew I was on my own.

"It was amazing to have a crowd once more. That's all you can do as a human being: you give it your all.

"I've been lucky enough to have had the long career I've had. I'm very grateful but that's all I had today."

Farah has been concentrating on road racing for the past three years, though had hoped to return to the track for the Olympics.

The British long-distance runner has for years had to contend with questions and insinuations surrounding his long association with the now-banned American coach Alberto Salazar.

Farah has always denied any wrongdoing and has never failed a drugs test, with the 36-year-old often running and winning under added pressure because of the focus that has been trained upon him.

Former World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) president Sir Craig Reedie, speaking while in office last year, signalled proposals that could see experts conduct new tests on old samples of the many athletes who worked with the disgraced Salazar.

Salazar strenuously denied breaking the rules but was found by the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) last year to have committed three violations associated with "orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct".

He received a four-year ban, with Nike then closing the Oregon Project training group that he led. Salazar has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the punishment.

It emerged last weekend that UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) intended to prevent previous samples provided by Farah or any athlete from being re-examined, unless "credible evidence" could be provided that pointed to the use of banned substances.

UKAD president Nicola Sapstead voiced concern that old samples could be damaged by being released for fresh testing; however, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency - no stranger to controversy - has urged the British authority to drop its reluctance.

Farah has been a bystander during this exchange of views, but the six-time world champion would be open to his samples being looked at again.

That is a point he also made in the immediate wake of Salazar being banned.

Farah wrote on Twitter: "I've seen reports of my name in connection to UKAD and WADA about sample retesting.

"Just to be clear, I was not consulted about this and as I've said many times, I am happy for any anti-doping body to test any of my previous samples anytime."

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."

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.”

The 39-year-old has raced just seven times since October 2019 and said he felt his track career was over after being beaten by club runner Ellis Cross at the Vitality London 10,000 in May.

Having suffered from discomfort in his right hip, Farah revealed he would miss the London Marathon – which he finished third in four years ago – on Wednesday but aims to compete next year.

"I've been training really hard over the past few months and I'd got myself back into good shape and was feeling pretty optimistic about being able to put in a good performance," Farah said.

"However, over the past 10 days I've been feeling pain and tightness in my right hip. I've had extensive physio and treatment and done everything I can to be on the start line, but it hasn't improved enough to compete on Sunday.

"I wish everyone taking part on Sunday a good run and I hope to be back out there with you in April 2023."

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.

Farah was ruthlessly focused amid all the off-track distractions as he burst away from the twin Kenyan challenge of Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor and Paul Tanui down the home straight.

The 32-year-old has endured a tumultuous year, caught up in the doping allegations surrounding his coach Alberto Salazaar, but had not lost his aura of invincibility on it as he came home in 27 minutes 01.13 seconds.

The double Olympic champion was back at the Bird’s Nest stadium, the scene of the biggest disappointment of his career when he failed to make the final of the 2008 Olympics.

Farah’s victory on this occasion meant he continued his Games and World Championships winning streak since his second-placed finish at Daegu, South Korea in 2011.

Farah was in a pack of five, well clear of the field for most of the race, also including American Galen Rupp, his training partner at the Nike Oregon Project in Portland, and, ominously, three Kenyan team-mates.

Farah kicked to the front with a lap to go and, although the Kenyans tried to respond, they simply could not match his finishing speed as the Briton came home with more than half a second to spare.

The double Olympic champion has admitted his name has been dragged through the mud over his links to Salazar- although he himself had been accused of no wrongdoing – and this win was the ideal way to answer his critics.

“I want to keep doing what I’m doing and serve my country and win as many medals as I can,” Farah told the BBC.

“I want to be remembered as someone who did something for their country.

“It’s been good to have so many people behind me on Instagram and Twitter, sending me messages.

“It’s a great atmosphere. It’s important I started the team well. I’m one of the oldest. So hopefully people look at that and say ‘I can do it’.”

Farah feared a last-lap stumble had killed his hopes of victory, but branded the challenge the toughest of his career.

He added: “The last lap, that was close. At one point, I honestly thought I was gone as I stumbled and I was thinking,
‘Not 24 laps into it, the last lap’.

“I was trying to go round and the Kenyan guy Geoffrey caught my leg. So I almost stumbled and managed to stay on my feet, go round to the front and make sure I had something left at the end. It was close, it wasn’t easy.”

Farah continued his unprecedented spell of long-distance domination by landing his eighth straight global gold, but he did it the hard way after falling to the track following a trip from training partner Galen Rupp.

He recovered to respond to the challenge laid down by Kenya’s Paul Tanui, bursting past him down the home straight and crossing the line in 27 minutes and 5.17 seconds.

Victory saw Farah eclipse the Olympic achievements of the likes of double champions Sebastian Coe, Daley Thompson and Kelly Holmes.

With 300 metres to go Tanui pressed the accelerator in a bid to neutralise Farah’s renowned finishing speed, but the British star was not done and powered past the Kenyan before holding on to win by 0.47secs.

Farah broke down in tears as he was interviewed by broadcasters after the race.

“When I fell down for one moment I was thinking, ‘oh my race is over, my dream is over’. But then I managed to dig deep,” he said.

“Galen is a good sportsman and things happen sometimes and it’s so easy to blame people, but I’ve got such a long stride I don’t blame him for anything.

“I’m a guy who wins medals rather than runs fast times, so for me what keeps me going is winning medals for my country and making my nation proud.”

At this year's delayed Tokyo Games, there is the prospect of seeing several of the world's top athletes all competing for gold at the same time.

August 1 looks a good bet for the standout day in 2021.

The final round of the men's golf event could see Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm in the mix, with Andy Murray hopeful he will meanwhile be defending consecutive singles gold medals in the tennis.

This comes on the same day that Simone Biles could potentially become the most decorated Olympic gymnast of all time.

As if that were not enough, the men's 100m final is another must-watch event.

Expectations will be high heading into that second Sunday of the Games, with examples from the past three competitions living up to their billing...

AUGUST 16, BEIJING 2008

Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt would be firmly in contention to appear on the Games' own Mount Rushmore and each enjoyed one of the finest moments of their respective careers on the same day.

Phelps had spent the opening week of the Beijing Olympics pursuing Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven golds and had six as he entered the pool again for the 100m butterfly final, almost 12 hours before Bolt's big moment.

Seventh at the turn, the United States superstar needed a remarkable recovery to triumph over a devastated Milorad Cavic by 0.01 seconds.

Phelps would pass Spitz with his eighth gold of the Games the following day, by which point he was sharing the headlines with Jamaica's own ultimate athlete.

Bolt's blistering 9.69-second final triumph in the 100m stood as a world record until the same man beat it exactly a year later. The new benchmark remains unmatched.

And that Saturday in China also saw the small matter of Roger Federer's only gold medal, claimed alongside Stan Wawrinka in the doubles final after falling to James Blake as the top seed in the singles.

AUGUST 4-5, LONDON 2012

It is actually tough to choose just one day from the 2012 Olympics, where this weekend delivered from start to finish.

On the Saturday evening, at the Aquatics Centre, swimming prepared to say goodbye to its greatest name. Phelps and the United States won the 4x100m medley, clinching his 18th gold medal in what appeared set to be his final race.

Indeed, Phelps confirmed his retirement following the Games, only to return in predictably dominant fashion in 2016.

Across the city that same night, Team GB athletes were capping a stunning run of medals that would see the day dubbed "Super Saturday". There were six home golds in all, including big wins for Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah in quick succession.

The drama only continued the next day, too, as Murray finally sealed a Wimbledon win over Roger Federer in the tennis event, while Bolt lit up London Stadium in the 100m.

AUGUST 14, RIO 2016

Although there will be no Bolt brilliance in Tokyo, Brazil was treated to another show as he became the first three-time winner of the 100m – later doing likewise in the 200m.

The first triumph was almost overshadowed on the track, however, coming shortly after Wayde van Niekerk had broken Michael Johnson's 17-year 400m world record by 0.15 seconds.

Again, the excitement was not reserved for athletics, with Murray in action that evening to claim another gold after coming through a four-hour epic against Juan Martin del Potro.

Murray is the only player – men's or women's – to win consecutive singles golds, while Rafael Nadal's presence added a little more stardust even though he lost the bronze final to Kei Nishikori.

A stunning Sunday also saw Biles add to the reputation she takes with her to Tokyo, a third gold on the vault making her the most decorated American gymnast.

And there was history, too, for Justin Rose, as he edged past Henrik Stenson at the 18th hole of the fourth round to become the first Olympic golf champion in 112 years.