Four-time Olympic champion taking next step on the road to Tokyo in the country where he grew up as he headlines Djibouti International Half-Marathon

As a young boy, Mo Farah used to play football on the streets of Djibouti and dream of being a star. The sport may have changed in the intervening years but the dream came true and he is back in the nation from which he moved to Britain at the age of eight now as a four-time Olympic champion.

Farah’s pursuit of a fifth title is about to begin in earnest. After spending the last seven weeks at his training camp in Ethiopia, the time has come for him to start his racing year, to test himself and discover the extent to which all that work is paying off.

The inaugural Djibouti International Half Marathon on Friday (March 5) represents an opportunity to do just that, against a field which contains the likes of training partner Bashir Abdi, competing for Belgium, the Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye and Frenchman Florian Carvalho.

It will be Farah’s first outing since he clocked 60:27 to win the Antrim Coast Half Marathon on September 12 and the 37-year-old admits he is excited to engage his racing brain once again. The overall target is simple.

“Most importantly, I want to win the race,” says the man who broke the one-hour track record last year. “It’s not just going to be a case of me turning up. It’s going to be tough and there are a lot of decent guys racing so I’ll just go out there and see what I can do.

“It’ll be good to get back in the right frame of mind in terms of racing again and to test myself.”

He adds: “I look forward to racing and of course it’s a big part of being an athlete. You put in all of this work and you have to test yourself and see where you are – ‘what do I need to do? Do I need to change anything? What kind of shape am I in?’.

“I’m excited. Obviously this year is going to be different because I’m back on the track and very much looking forward to it but at the same time it’s still four-and-a-half months away.”

“I know what needs to be put in – it’s not a matter of ‘I’m the Olympic champion, I’m going to turn up and it’s going to be easy’. It’s going to be tough and it will come down to who wants it more.”

“It”, of course, is the Tokyo Olympics where Farah will defend the 10,000m title he has held since 2012. After his recent relationship with the marathon comes something more akin to a first love. Farah admits to feeling more at home on the track and has definitely been able to find a positive side to the global pandemic.

“Having the Olympics postponed is probably a good thing for me in terms of having more time back on the track and to get used to it,” he says.

“The important thing is being hungry. I love racing and I guess I’m happiest on the track – turning up, knowing that you’ve put in the work, you’ve grafted over time. The racing is the easier part – it’s the work that you put in [that is hardest].”

There will be nothing easy about this year’s 10,000m task. A host of African opponents –with world champion and world record-holder Joshua Cheptegei, second to Farah at the world championships of 2017, chief among them – stand in the way.

The Ugandan threw down a particularly intimidating gauntlet with his run of 26:11.00 in Valencia last October, but it has served to get Farah’s competitive juices flowing.

“It does fire me up and I think it’s good for athletics but at the same time the Olympics is not just a time trial, is it?,” says the six-time world gold medallist. “We know the history.

“It’s not just Cheptegei – there’s Jacob Kiplimo, Mo Ahmed – you’ve got so many guys coming through at the moment and I think it’s exciting for the sport to have all of these people at that level.”

None, however, will have the same level of championship experience to draw on as Farah does.

“Having experience is a big thing but the key is being injury-free, putting in the work and turning up finely tuned – that’s the thing most athletes struggle with and I’m looking forward to it,” he continues. “I know what needs to be put in – it’s not a matter of ‘I’m the Olympic champion, I’m going to turn up and it’s going to be easy’. It’s going to be tough and it will come down to who wants it more.”

Getting back to the track is for another day, however. Farah is not one to look too far ahead and when asked if he is tempted to tackle any of the host of major championships which will be on offer next year, he simply says: “I take it one race at a time, one year at a time and it’s too far ahead to think about it. If my body allows me, I keep enjoying it and I’m happy with the result at the Olympics then we’ll see.”

The immediate priority is his half-marathon assignment in Djibouti and there is a quiet confidence about Farah. Under the guidance of coach Gary Lough, his body is still sending him the right signals. “I’m happy where I am,” he adds.

The event, which takes place in Djibouti City and gets under way around 2pm UK time, also provides a reminder as to how far he has come.

“I grew up here,” Farah says of Djibouti. “When I was coming to the UK I came direct from here.

“Going through the streets I was like ‘I remember I used to play football here, I remember here’ so to be able to come back and race is exciting. A lot of people are excited, too – they are excited to see you, knowing that you grew up on these streets and you’re back here having achieved all that you have.”

There may yet be more to come.