Mo Farah laid down the gauntlet to his rivals ahead of the World Championships in Moscow by taking a commanding 5000m victory at the Diamond League in Birmingham.
Fresh from scoring top points for Great Britain at the European Team Championships, double Olympic champion Farah proved too strong at the Alexander Stadium, taking the win in 13:14.24 minutes.
A sluggish race came down to the final lap and Farah had too much for Ethiopian pair Yenew Alamirew and Hagos Gebrhiwet, surging home in the final 200m.
"The young guys wanted to beat me, I'm the guy to beat," said Farah
"The pace was slow and the conditions weren't great. They were working as a team, but you've got to hold your form and make sure you've got something else left."
“It was important that I won the race. It was a really tough field so I’m really pleased I came through it with a victory.
"It’s important to keep working hard now and get ready for the World Championships.”
Meanwhile, there were also victories for London 2012 silver medallist Christine Ohuruogu, who sealed 400m victory, as well as Perri Shakes-Drayton in the 400m hurdles.
A late surge from Ohuruogu ensured she took the tape ahead of 2011 world champion Amantle Montsho in 50.63 seconds while Shakes-Drayton ran a season’s best 54.22 to get the better of compatriot Eilidh Child.
In the women’s 800m, Jessica Judd added to her burgeoning reputation – the 18-year-old taking victory to rapturous applause in a personal best time of 1:59.85.
Elsewhere, Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford had to make do with second place after his best jump of 8.11m was bettered by Russia’s Aleksandr Menkov, who won with 8.27m.
© Sportsbeat 2013