Mo Farah defends his Olympic 10,000m title to land GB's 10th gold of Rio Games

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It would not be Super Saturday at the Olympics without a run of blistering brilliance by Mo Farah and in Rio's Olympic Stadium Britain's greatest long distance runner turned the men's 10,000m final into an epic rerun of Chariots of Fire when he fell during an enthralling, unrelenting race and recovered to blast past leader Paul Tanui on the home straight to take gold and retain his Olympic crown.

Farah, who became the first British track and field athlete to win three Olympic gold medals, was inadvertently tripped by training partner Galen Rupp midway through the race and even though he recovered quickly and gave the thumbs up as he ran on, the way he fought back from the setback adds yet more lustre to his astonishing career.

This was another quite remarkable performance from Farah, a storybook triumph, after he chased Kenyan Tanui down the back straight on the final lap and then sprinted past him, leaving him powerless to retaliate.

Mo Farah is elated to cross the finish line ahead of Kenya's Paul Tanui to defend his Olympic 10,000m title

An emotional Farah sinks to his knees and looks to the skies as the realisation he is three-time champion sinks in

The first British track and field athlete to claim three Olympic golds poses with his prize

Farah tumbled on the track to spark worries about his title defence but he recovered to win once again

Farah was inadvertently tripped by training partner Galen Rupp midway through the race

Farah recovered quickly and gave the thumbs up as he ran on, going on to beat Paul Tanui to the finish line

The Brit hit the track hard but managed to avoid injury during a dramatic night at the Olympic Stadium in Rio

Farah takes a bite out of his medal out on the track while wife Tania grabs her phone to record some keepsakes

Tanui was on Farah's shoulder and eager to pounce but the 33-year-old ultimately had too much for his rival

There's no mistaking the victor as the emotional Farah celebrates to a backdrop of vanquished beaten foes

He even managed to perform his traditional 'Mobot' gesture of celebration as he crossed the finishing line.

Farah, 33, had run down the home straight before the start, exhorting the crowd to pump up the atmosphere.

He got the biggest cheer of the night when he was introduced on the start-line and held up his watch to the crowd, tapping it meaningfully to suggest that time would not be his enemy on this night.

As Tanui set the early pace, Farah loped along as the backmarker for the opening five laps of the 25-lap race before he started to move quickly through the field.

With 3,000m gone, he was running on the shoulder of the new leader, Ethiopia's Tamirat Tola. Soon, the leading group comprised two Kenyans, two Ethiopians and Farah.

With less than half the race gone, the Kenyans and the Ethiopians began to try to stretch the field and run Farah's lightning finish out of him but the Briton stayed with them, looking comfortable. 

Farah kisses his proud wife Tania having overcome his difficulties during the race to finish with the gold medal

Farah set aside the mix of jubilation and exhaustion to remember to perform a 'Mobot' as he crossed the line

Defending champion Farah found himself surrounded by the Kenyans determined to steal his crown

The clean-shaven Farah was a picture of serenity as he eased himself into the defence of his Olympic title

He had been prepared for them to try a group tactic. He expected it and appeared to be relishing the challenge and even his trip did not derail him.

This was the first step in Farah's bid to become the only man since the great Lasse Viren to win the 5,000m and the 10,000m at successive Olympics.

The great Finn achieved the double double at the Munich Games in 1972 and then the Montreal Olympics of 1976 to establish himself as the greatest of all long-distance runners.

Only a select bunch had even managed to retain the Olympic 10,000m title. Farah knew that if he realised the first of his twin ambitions, he would join Emile Zatopek, Viren, Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele in the ranks of those who have done it.

Farah expected to be ganged up on by the Kenyan runners but it was Tanui who really took the fight to him

The mere fact of Farah's appearance on the track here was enough to revive fond memories of London 2012 where he, long jumper Greg Rutherford and heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill were at the core of the greatest ever celebration of British athletics that became known as Super Saturday.

It was the moment Farah cemented his place in the affection of the nation. Many of those who were there in London's Olympic Stadium that night say they have never heard, before or since, a roar like the one that greeted Farah as he sprinted into the home straight, leaving Rupp, who won silver, in his wake.

In those moments, Farah seemed to embody the best of the London Games. Before the lurch backwards to Brexit and all the fear and xenophobia it carried with it, Farah's popularity seemed to be the embodiment of a new inclusivity.

A man who came to Britain as an immigrant from Somalia was our national hero that summer.

He has continued to dominate his events in the intervening years. He won the 5,000m and 10,000m titles at the world championships in Moscow in 2013 and again in Beijing last year.

Farah was comfortable to bide his time at the back of the pack early in the race, before running into trouble

His dominance has been such that he was a heavy favourite going into this race in the northern suburbs of the Olympic city.

But he may still have felt he had a point to prove. He may still have been harbouring the kind of resentment and sense of injustice that sportsmen sometimes need to get the best out of themselves.

Farah's career has not passed without controversy in the last 15 months and he may have felt the need to deliver a riposte to those he considers his detractors.

In June 2015, a BBC Panorama documentary alleged Farah's coach, the former marathon champion, Alberto Salazar, was guilty of doping offences perpetrated at the Nike Oregon Project, where Farah has often trained while in the USA.

A recent BBC documentary shed some light on Farah's training regime and he is overcome after it all pays off

The programme did not accuse Farah of any wrongdoing but he felt he had suffered by association. 'My reputation is getting ruined,' he said at the time.

He pulled out of an appearance at a Birmingham Diamond League meeting, saying he was 'emotionally and physically drained' and that he wanted to fly to the States to seek answers from Salazar.

Days later, he was assailed by more revelations when it became apparent he had missed two drugs tests in the run-up to London 2012.

The second test, some time in 2011, attracted particular attention because Farah claimed he had not heard the testers at his door because he had a faulty doorbell.

The excuse, which drew widespread ridicule, even led to his doorbell gaining its own Twitter account.

The 'Mobot' gets another airing on the podium as Farah enjoys his win with Tanui and Tamirat Tola

Farah was all smiles as he planted a kiss on his golden prize alongside the Kenyan and Ethiopian runners

But Farah rode out the storm and has managed to avoid any further damage. Earlier this month, a documentary about his unforgiving preparations for Rio 2016, Race of his Life, aired on the BBC and attracted widespread praise. The programme followed his brutal training regimen at camps in Africa and the USA and painted a picture of a man utterly dedicated to his sport. It was well received by the public.

And so in Rio, Farah came full circle. Back in an Olympic Stadium, back as the favourite, back as a national hero, back with a burning desire to write his name even more prominently into the athletics history books and position himself among the true legends of the sport where he believes so passionately that he belongs.

Farah is now unbeaten in major track finals since 2011 and after this stunning display, only a fool would bet against him to do the double, again, when he runs in the 5,000m later this week.