Farah brands 2014 as 'toughest year of career', says will focus on track until Rio

Double Olympic and World champion Mo Farah has described 2014 as the 'toughest year' he has had and said that he would focus on the track up until the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Farah, who has endured a troubled 2014, withdrawing from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow because of fitness concerns, was disappointed with his eighth-place finish on his London Marathon debut in April.

Farah said that it has been difficult, from the marathon where he wanted to do better, to getting ill, adding that it has been a struggle, The BBC reported.

But the Londoner, who became the most successful non-relay athlete, male or female, in European Championships history with double distance gold last week, added that it has been an up and down year but he is back on top now.

The Briton said that he had learned from his London Marathon experience, but admitted that he was not yet ready to compete over the 26-mile distance. Farah said that after Rio he would try again but for now he would concentrate on the track.

Farah said that it has been the toughest year of his career for sure, certainly the toughest he has had for many years. He added that he hadn't been injured for many years and this season was tough.

The track athlete said that he is already looking ahead to the 2015 World Championships in Beijing but in long distance running one can only take one year at a time and can't look two years beyond. But, he added that it is obviously there.

The recently crowned 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre European champion will race over two miles at Sunday's Birmingham Diamond League, his first meeting in Britain since the London Marathon, the report added.