'It's all going in the right direction,' says Farah

MO FARAH: The Briton believes he is finding his best form with the Olympics on the horizon (Getty Images)

Mo Farah was back on home ground yesterday and back in winning form. Two months on from the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, where he was run out of the medal frame in the 3,000m final, the 29-year-old was a comfortable winner of the Bupa London 10,000 road race for the fourth successive year.

Like the 1500m and 5,000m track races he won at Eagle Rock in California 10 days ago, it was little more than a training exercise for the Londoner ahead of his first big test of the summer – his 5,000m clash against Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele and other leading East African lights at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meeting in Eugene, Oregon, next Saturday. Farah produced a sprint finish down The Mall to beat Arata Fujiwara of Japan in 29min 19sec, well down on his course record of 27:44 but just four seconds slower than his winning effort of 12 months ago, at the start of a summer in which he established himself at the top of global distance running, taking 5,000m gold and 10,000m silver from the World Championships in South Korea.

"It's all going in the right direction," said Farah, whose training base has been on the west coast of the United States for 18 months. "I'm feeling stronger now, compared to previous seasons. The indoors is done now. We forget about it and move on. I am very excited about the Olympics. It's a big summer and I'm looking forward to it. I just need to stay injury-free and focused. It's nice to come back here and run in London."

The women's race in London was won in 32min 52sec by Mara Yamauchi, the British runner who has been plagued by injury for three years.