Four-time Olympic champion Sir Mo Farah will start the Samarkand Marathon in Uzbekistan on November 8 and present medals to finishers, The Times of Central Asia reported on November 6.
The race has also been awarded the World Athletics Elite Label, reported on November 5. The status allows organisers to bring in more professional athletes and raises the event’s appeal for elite runners, their managers and international sports agencies.
“Receiving the Elite Label from World Athletics is an important stage in the development of the Samarkand Marathon and the result of several years of systematic work by the team,” said Mirkhan Sagitov, Head of the marathon organisation department at the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation and curator of the Samarkand Marathon Series, “We are consistently raising the sporting level of the competition and developing infrastructure, medical and anti-doping support to meet the requirements of the international athletics federation.”
Farah will serve as an ambassador for the marathon, welcoming participants, starting the race and meeting the winners, according to the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation, the organiser. “Guys, I’ll see you at the start line,” Farah said in a social media video
The British long-distance runner won the 10,000 metres and 5,000 metres at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and repeated both victories at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. He is a six-time world champion and nine-time European champion. After moving to the marathon, he won in Chicago in 2018 in 2:05:11, a European record at the time.
The course starts and finishes at Registan Square and passes through the city’s historic centre. The marathon has been held every year since 2019 and is certified under World Athletics standards.
Uzbekistan’s Tourism Committee said more than 1,500 international participants from 72 countries and 11,000 in total have registered this year.
Good luck, runners!
