Mo Farah hits out over Commonwealth Games accommodation crisis

Sep 23 2010 by Jonny Greatrex, Birmingham Mail

DOUBLE European Champion Mo Farah has hit out at the “unfit” accommodation at the Commonwealth Games, saying athletes should be free to focus on competing.

The 5,000 and 10,000 metres gold medallist pulled out of the games earlier this month due to injury, and spoke out during a visit to the city to give his backing to the Birmingham Half Marathon.

But the 27-year-old Somali-born runner says those taking part deserve the chance to concentrate solely on their performance.

He said: “There has been a lot of negative talk. There has been talk about how it is not safe, safety must come first.

“As an athlete you just want to forget about everything else and let your agent or manager deal with these kind of things. You want to get to the start and do your best and not have to worry about any distractions like these.”