Mo Farah slammed by rival Andy Vernon for foul-mouthed outburst following 5,000m Diamond League race 

• Mo Farah crossed the line in in 13 minutes 11.77 seconds on Thursday
• Double Olympic champion beat second-placed Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha
• It was Farah's first race in 41 days since a doping storm around his coach
• Farah's coach Alberto Salazar has been accused of doping his athletes
• The pair's bad blood dates back to an ill-tempered exchange on Twitter earlier this year

By Martha Kelner for the Daily Mail

Published: 14:54 EST, 9 July 2015 | Updated: 05:27 EST, 10 July 2015

Mo Farah marred his winning return to the track on Thursday night by directing a foul-mouthed outburst at a British team-mate.

The Olympic champion turned his back on fellow GB runner Andy Vernon, as Vernon went over to offer his congratulations after Farah won a 5,000m Diamond League race here.

‘I went to shake his hand and he turned his back on me and told me to f*** off,’ Vernon told Sportsmail. ‘I’m glad you saw it. To not even be a sportsman and shake my hand is disgraceful.’ 

Mo Farah celebrates after crossing the line first in the 5,000m event at the Diamond League meet in Lausanne

Farah celebrates his victory with his iconic 'Mobot' celebration after the race in Lausanne

The Brit (right) led the race with two laps to go, controlling the pace from the front before he kicked to victory

Andy Vernon congratulates runners after the 5,000m race in Lausanne

Andy Vernon (pictured) alleges that Farah told him to 'f*** off' following the 5,000m Diamond League race

The bad blood between Vernon and Farah (pictured in August 2014) dates back to a feud on Twitter in February 

This was not the Olympics but Farah’s reaction as he accelerated clear with the finish line in sight showed how much the victory meant.

He gritted his teeth and punched the air before performing his trademark Mobot to the delight of an enraptured crowd who had watched him outsmart and outsprint one of the best 5,000m fields ever assembled. 

It is a shame for him the crisis management team he has employed were not on hand to intervene at that point, because what Farah did next threatens to overshadow his exploits on the track.

As British team-mate Vernon approached to offer a handshake, Farah turned his back on him. Vernon, who finished 15th, claims Britain’s double Olympic champion then told him to ‘f*** off’.

The outburst marred Farah’s first race in six weeks. He had not been on the track since competing over 10,000m in Eugene, Oregon, on May 29, before the doping storm surrounding his coach Alberto Salazar began. Farah has remained loyal to his coach but says the whole affair is ‘killing’ him.

The bad blood between Farah and Vernon dates back to an ill-tempered exchange on Twitter earlier this year. Farah branded Vernon an ‘embarrassment’ and mocked him by saying, ‘Come back when you win something decent’. Vernon had criticised the lack of competition Farah faces when he runs in Britain.

Vernon said he came to Lausanne to ‘bury the hatchet’ before he joins Farah at Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees.

Mo Farah wins the 5,000m Diamond League in 13mins 11.77 secs

Farah crossed the line in in 13 minutes 11.77 seconds on Thursday - ahead of Ethiopia's Yomif Kejelcha

The race was the double Olympic champion's first in 41 days - and he was clearly delighted with his display

‘I went to shake his hand and he turned his back on me and told me to f*** off. It’s disgraceful. I’m glad you saw it,’ Vernon told Sportsmail.

‘I’m going up to Font Romeu in a few days and I just wanted to end it. It’s in the past. I don’t know why we can’t just forget about it. With all the bad publicity he’s getting, I would have thought he’d try to make a good name for himself again but by doing that it’s not good for him.

‘I wanted to congratulate the performance, despite whether we’re friends or not.’

When Farah was asked if there had been an issue with Vernon after the race, he replied: ‘I don’t know, not that I saw.’ 

Justin Gatlin leads Tyson Gay (left) and Asafa Powell (right) during 100m in Lausanne on Thursday 

Twice-banned Gatlin clocked 9.75 seconds for the victory ahead of Gay and Powell in Switzerland 

Farah hit the front with three laps left, with Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, 17, on his shoulder. Kenyan Caleb Ndiku, the biggest threat to Farah’s world title hopes, was also in the mix. Kejelcha went to the front with 300m to go but Farah outsprinted him down the straight to finish in 13min 11.77sec.

Zharnel Hughes, the Anguilla-born teenager who switched allegiance to Great Britain last month, announced himself as a World Championships medal contender by winning the 200m.

The 100m final rivalled the dirtiest races in history, with five of the seven men having served drugs bans. Twice-banned Justin Gatlin won in 9.75sec ahead of Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay.

Gatlin takes a selfie with some fans following his 100m victory at the Athletissima IAAF Diamond League

Comments (265)

Share what you think

• Newest
• Oldest
• Best rated
• Worst rated

 View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

We are no longer accepting comments on this article.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now