Mo Farah's Olympics hopes hang in balance after defeat in 10,000m trial

Two-time defending champion Mo Farah suffered a crushing defeat and failed to achieve a qualifying time at the European Athletics 10,000m Cup in Birmingham.

As a result, Farah's hope for an Olympic gold medal and his chance to represent Britain in the quadrennial event hangs in balance.

It was the four-time Olympic champion's first 10,000m track race since August 2017 and in order to win Farah had to overcome the challenge of team-mate Marc Scott, who ran 27:10.41 earlier this year.

Farah came in eighth with a time of 27:50.64 at the event that doubled as British qualifiers. The 38-year-old needed to secure a qualifying time of 27:28 to secure an Olympic berth.

According to British Athletics, prior to this event, Farah had only raced once in 2021 when he won the Djibouti Half-Marathon in March in 63:06

The four-time Olympic champion will have to turn his attention to another race if he's to secure his place.

Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 and the Games will run up to August 8 this year. The event was slated to be held last year, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.