The Somalia-born Londoner, who won the 5,000 and 10,000 metres in Barcelona last summer before becoming the first Briton to run the former distance inside 13 minutes, is parting company with his long-time coach Alan Storey and starting work with Alberto Salazar in Portland, Oregon.

Farah, who will be accompanied by his wife Tania and five-year-old daughter Rihanna, is hoping that Salazar - a Cuban-born American best known for winning the New York marathon three times in a row from 1980 - can give him the extra edge required to move from European to Olympic success.

"Last year was a great year for me, but if I'm ever going to get close to a medal in a world championships or Olympics in 2012 something needed to change a little bit," Farah said ahead of his attempt to break the British indoor record over 5,000m in the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham.

"Alberto is someone who I have always seen as a great coach and looked up to.

"He's coached many of the great athletes, he was a great athlete himself.

"I've met him a couple of times and got on very well with him and I believe he can just make that one-two per cent difference to get close to a medal.

"It hasn't been an easy decision and I guess you might ask why change something when everything's going so well...that half per cent could be a medal, that could be gold or silver.

"Alan Storey has helped me so much.

"I finished sixth and seventh in the World Championships [in 2007 and 2009 respectively] and he's a great coach, but for me to move forward that little bit I believe Alberto can make that difference.

"I don't want to change too much yet but I think he will introduce me to a lot of different things.

"I respect him and he's not afraid to do things."

Farah will continue to train at altitude in Kenya and Font Romeu in France - where Paula Radcliffe also trains - and insists he is not taking a major gamble with the Olympics so close.

"It's not a risk," he added.

"It's about as an athlete how much do you want it?

"Do I want a medal or do I want to be thinking back 'That was a great opportunity, should I have taken it?'

"I thought about it last year and the year before that but things weren't quite right and everything has seemed to come together now.

"I don't want to regret it thinking, 'He could have done that, he could have got me a medal'.

"It is a different culture in American but having a coach full time there to monitor you, that's what I need, someone to guide me.

"He's not the sort of person to say 'Come to me, I can do this and that', it was my decision."

Farah will be training alongside the likes of Americans Dathan Ritzenhein and Kara Goucher and hoping to replicate some of their success under Salazar (pictured); Goucher won bronze in the 10,000m at the World Championships in 2007 and Ritzenhein bronze in the World Half-Marathon Championships in 2009.

UK Athletics head of endurance Ian Stewart, himself a former European 5,000m champion and Olympic bronze medallist, gave his backing to the move, adding: "It's a lifestyle change but I'm glad it's Oregon and not New York.

"I said to a friend who moved out there, 'What's it like?'

"He said it's like going out with a beautiful woman who's always sick.

"We had a long discussion and I think it's a great decision for Mo.

"Alberto is a very good friend of mine and we're very like-minded.

"He has great attention to detail.

"The place is specifically an endurance place.

"He's very, very driven on where we need to go.

"I think he [Farah] can find that extra per cent. We're not far away.

"Anything that can give you an edge helps.

"We need to find another five per cent and that's about it - it's more than possible."

For many years, Farah did not live up to his obvious potential, but he raised his performance to another level in 2005 after living and training full-time with Kenyan runners at their UK training base in Teddington.

The following year he won European 5,000m silver and the European cross-country title.

Last year, after becoming the first man in 20 years to win the 5000m/10,000m double at the European Championships, Farah broke through to a time of 12min 57.94sec at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Zurich, breaking Dave Moorcroft's 28-year-old British - and former world - record of 13: 00.41.

But to put Farah's task in perspective, that performance was bettered by 12 men last season, with Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge leading the rankings with 12:51.21.

The world record set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2004 stands at 12:37.35.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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