'A big setback for me': Mo Farah pulls out of Commonwealth Games

Unable to recover from a recent illness, double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games.

17:17 24 July 2014

Double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah was set to run 5,000m and 10,000m in Scotland. However, he has decided to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games at the last minute after failing to recover from a recent illness. He said that it was a “tough decision” and that “the sickness I had two weeks ago was a big setback.”

He explained: "Training is getting better but I need another few weeks to get back to the level I was at in 2012 and 2013.

"I really wanted to add the Commonwealth titles to my Olympic and World Championships, but the event is coming a few weeks too soon for me.

"My body is telling me it's not ready to race yet."

Farah was thus added to the list of big names missing from Glasgow 2014. Others include Yohan Blake, Mark Cavendish, Dwain Chambers, Becky James, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, and Asafa Powell.

BBC Sport athletics pundit Steve Cram said: "It's hugely disappointing for Mo and the event.

"We knew he had been struggling. He's just run out of time to be in shape and I was really hoping he would have run the 10,000m at least.

"Running the marathon earlier in the year has upset his normal pattern and had an impact on his summer."