Usain Bolt’s World XI beat Sir Mo Farah’s England at 11th edition of Soccer Aid as pair return to stadium that gave them so much success

Usain Bolt and Sir Mo Farah returned to the London Stadium for the first time together in five years as the Jamaican’s World XI beat the Brit’s England team 4-1 on penalties after an entertaining 2-2 draw.

The two have won eight medals, six of them gold, in a stadium which hosted both the 2012 Olympics and 2017 World Championships, but this year they swapped bibs for shirts in front of a 50,000 strong crowd for Soccer Aid.

Both Bolt and Farah are regulars for the event – celebrating its 11th edition this year – and were both involved in a match which, it’s safe to say, didn’t have Premier League quality.

Neither scored but, in the first half, Bolt had a fierce left footed effort tipped over the bar by David James while Farah, who covered the pitch like some of his races in the stadium, nearly scored on the cusp of half-time when he was seemingly taken down by Patrice Evra.

Farah appealed to Mark Clattenburg for a penalty and even gestured jokingly that VAR should intervene but play went on.

Both Farah and Bolt had a much quieter second half on the pitch but the former did have his moment in the spotlight once again in Stratford, this time courtesy of carrying a pitch invader off the grass.

Lee Mack scored the winning penalty for World XI after a 2-2 draw in normal time.

£15,673,728 was raised on the night for UNICEF.

Bolt and Farah’s strong Stratford history 

At London 2012, Bolt stormed to three sprint gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m.

The Jamaican’s marks of 9.63 and 19.32 over 100m and 200m stand as the second and joint-fourth fastest times in history, while Bolt was also part of a Jamaican team, which included Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and Yohan Blake, that set the current 4x100m world record of 36.84.

Then five years later Bolt suffered defeat and heartbreak as he lost to Justin Gatlin in the 100m and pulled up injured in the 4x100m down the home straight, creating one of the most memorable images of his career as the Jamaican evoked memories of Derek Redmond and hobbled towards the finish line.

Farah meanwhile had arguably the greatest moment of his career in the stadium when he won became Olympic champion on two occasions at London 2012. His 10,000m victory was the third for Great Britain on that famous Super Saturday, without a doubt the greatest night in the history of British athletics when Farah, Greg Rutherford and Jessica Ennis-Hill all claimed golds.

He almost repeated the feat of wins in both the 5000m and 10,000m in 2017 but came up short with silver in the former distance.

The pair have won an astonishing 34 medals – 29 of them gold – at Olympics or World Championships, spanning a decade from Osaka in 2007 to London in 2017.

Athletics’ future in the UK?

Memories from those two championships were rife when watching Soccer Aid. Given West Ham’s season is over, the seats were moved back and you could see the layout of the athletics track.

That poses a question. Is the future of athletics in the UK in London or Birmingham? The re-built Alexander Stadium has already hosted a Diamond League this year and given we’re just a month away from the Commonwealth Games, the answer arguably lies in Birmingham in the near future.

The fact that the Alexander Stadium will revert to a 18,000 capacity stadium from its 32,000 attendance during the Commonwealth Games could also be a bonus for Birmingham. British Athletics, as reported by The Telegraph last month, may also receive £10-15m if they “walk away” from a 50-year London Stadium deal struck in 2013.

If the above occurred then that would leave London without a realistic venue for athletics, given that Crystal Palace needs renovation. When you think Diamond Leagues and Continental Tour Golds take place in cities like New York, Rome and Monaco, it would be a shame if London wasn’t on that list in the long-term.

An event with the hype and marketing excellence of Soccer Aid provided athletics a glimpse of what it’s missed at the London Stadium. Whether that will take place in the future, who knows?