Good morning for Mo Farah as he slips into cruise control

Briton is not a fan of early starts but eases into 5,000m final with a perfectly measured display

For Mo Farah, today’s heats of the 5,000metres were all about energy conservation and the Londoner did the minimum required to coast into the final.

The Briton finished in the fifth and final qualifying spot of his heat behind training partner Galen Rupp. Those two are the only athletes competing in both the men’s 10,000m and 5,000m; Farah going for the double double after his triumphs at London 2012 while Rupp is hoping to make amends for his disappointing fourth place on Saturday night.

Prior to taking his place on the start line, Farah had likened the 5,000m to being an unknown quantity, unsure how his body would react to the pounding it took from the hard Mondo track in his earlier gold-medal run.

He had said he would use the opening two or three laps just to find his feet and his rhythm and, from the outset, he looked completely at ease.

After his 10,000m, he had talked about the nerves. Before today’s heat, he looked coolness personified, performing a Mobot as the cameras homed in on him as he gathered with the 13 other runners in the second of two heats.

Unlike in the 10,000m, where he slotted into the back to avoid any potential melees in a packed field, on this occasion he moved straight to the front and never dropped out of the top five. The pace looked relatively easy from start to finish but as he, American Rupp and the Ethiopian and Kenyan contingents upped the tempo with two-and-a-half laps to go, the field fractured with just six runners left out front.

That six turned to five going into the final bend and, as a result, there was not the usual trademark Farah kick to the line, the 30-year-old safe in the knowledge he would comfortably book his place in the final. He and Rupp even took time out to chat to the finish — Farah telling his training partner to “save as much energy as you can” — and eased up leaving Muktar Edris, of Ethiopia, to sprint it out for the win over Kenyan Edwin Soi.

Farah, sweating heavily but looking like the heat had not taken much out of him, described the run as “alright”. He said: “I just wanted to do as little work as possible so I’m fresh in the legs, ready for the final and I did that so I’ve just got to recover now for Friday. This is just prelims and it’s always going to feel harder as you’ve got to get up in the morning. I’m not a morning person and I had to get up this morning at 6am. But you’ve got to get it out of the way and get to the final.”

It proved a good morning for the British team here. Robbie Grabarz, hampered by a knee injury earlier in the year and struggling to find the rhythm that earned him Olympic bronze at London 2012, appeared to be back near to his fluid best in qualifying.

He needed 2.29m to automatically book his place in Thursday’s final and he was the pick of the jumpers, opening up at 2.17m and clearing heights of 2.22m, 2.26m and 2.29m to sail into the final without a single failure.

“It was really nice to come out today and qualify strongly,” he said. “It’s been a c**p season really but I’ve had to be patient and we’ll see what happens on Thursday.”

However, he faces stiff competition in that final particularly from Ukrainian Bohdan Bondarenko and Mutaz Essa Barshim, of Qatar, both of whom have cleared 2.40m this season, heights Grabarz has yet to attain.

Katarina Johnson-Thompson posted two personal bests on day two of the heptathlon to leave her in fifth — just 42 points off a bronze — heading into the final event, the 800m, tonight.

With Jessica Ennis-Hill back at home nursing an Achilles injury, which is likely to keep her on the sidelines for up to 15 weeks, the British multi-discipline focus was on the 20-year-old.

She began the day in sixth after strong performances in the 100m hurdles and 200m followed by an average high jump competition and an indifferent shot put display. But today she jumped 6.56m — an impressive five centimetres past her personal best.

Of the 32 competitors, only German’s Claudia Rath jumped further and, in the process, Johnson-Thompson moved up to fifth overall.

And she retained that position thanks to a personal best throw of 40.86m in the javelin, habitually one of her weakest events.

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