Mo Farah back in family fold

Olympic hero Mo Farah was back in London with his wife Tania and new-born twin daughters yesterday after savouring the adulation of an adoring crowd on his return to the track.

Nearly 13,000 supporters packed out the Alexander Stadium to pay homage to the double London 2012 gold medallist at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix on Sunday evening, screaming his name loudly, clamouring for autographs and performing his trademark Mobot celebration in tribute.

On the track Farah was head and shoulders above the competition in his two-mile race, ­winning in eight minutes and 27.24 seconds over the rarely-run distance.

He did not threaten Steve Ovett’s 34-year-old European outdoor record of 8mins 13.51secs, but not one of the capacity crowd could have cared less.

The 5,000 and 10,000 metres Olympic champion, competing for the first time since those triumphs, was the athlete they had come to see and Farah loved all the attention.

“I’ve never dreamed of it being like this with everyone behind you, the whole country,” said Farah, who returned to London straight after the race to be with his wife, who gave birth on Friday.

“It’s great support, it gives you a big boost and you feel like you can’t let them down.

“You’ve got to go out there and win. I went to a restaurant the other day and someone came up and asked me to do the Mobot while I was eating my food.”

Fans have even been queueing at his local post box in his hometown of Teddington, which was painted gold to mark his Olympic triumph.

“There’s a queue there all the time,” Farah said.

“The other day I was driving past and I opened my window and did the Mobot. I said: ‘Here’s Mo, I’m doing the Mobot’. People were laughing.

“I’m really enjoying it. All these people just appreciate it and they are very nice about it.”

The 29-year-old, who has gone quicker than Ovett’s time indoors but insisted the outdoor record was not on his mind in Birmingham, will race just once more this season, at the Great North Run half-marathon on September 16.

Farah was joined on a lap of honour at the end of Sunday’s meeting by his fellow Olympic medallists Greg Rutherford, Christine Ohuruogu and Robbie Grabarz.

It was the latter who produced the best performance of the day, as high jump bronze medallist Grabarz won with a clearance of 2.32m to take the lead in the overall Diamond League series.