Double Olympic champion Mo Farah out of Commonwealth Games, illness recovery not complete

Mo Farah leading in the 5000m men’s final at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Photo by Tab59 / Flickr.

GLASGOW—Double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah has pulled out of the Commonwealth Games because he has not recovered fully from a recent illness.

Team England said Thursday on the opening day of the games that Farah, who had planned to run the 5,000 and 10,000 metres—the same distances he won gold at during the London Games in 2012—would remain at his training base in France.

The team said Farah had made good progress on his recovery from his illness but had withdrawn to focus on getting back to full fitness for next month’s European Championships in Zurich.

Farah was one of the big draw cards for the athletics program which begins on the weekend. Usain Bolt plans to run for Jamaica in a relay.