Mo Farah wins back-to-back 10,000m gold medals

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NBC Olympics.com – Gold: Mo Farah (Great Britain)

Silver: Paul Tanui (Kenya)

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Bronze: Tamirat Tola (Ethiopia)

Mo Farah successfully defended his Olympic 10,000m gold medal on Saturday.

From the start, Farah seemed relaxed, shadow boxing with cameras during warmups and even waving to fans after the race began. He moved freely from the back to the front of the pack.

On the 10th lap, Farah tripped over U.S. runner Galen Rupp, his training partner. Farah quickly got back up to his feet and flashed a thumbs up.

On the final lap, Farah passed Kenya's Paul Tanui and did his signature "Mobot" pose as he crossed the finish line.

Farah became the sixth man to win two Olympic 10,000m gold medals. Most recently, Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele won gold medals in 2004 and 2008, and fellow Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie  won the two previous gold medals.

Rupp, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, finished fifth.

Farah will return to the track on Wednesday for the first round of the 5000m. Since winning the 2012 Olympic 5000m gold medal, he has added two 5000m world championships to his resume.

Rupp will race again on August 21 in the men's marathon. He has completed only one marathon in his career. In his 26.2 mile debut, he broke the tape at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February.

The women's 10,000m final was contested Friday. Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana broke the world record, which had stood since 1993, by more than 14 seconds. Highlights:


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