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Mo Farah explains Birmingham withdrawal

Great Britain's Mo Farah reveals that he withdrew from last month's Birmingham Grand Prix because his "head wasn't right" after the doping claims involving his coach.

Mo Farah has revealed that he would have found it difficult to race to the best of his ability in the aftermath of the doping allegations involving coach Alberto Salazar.

Last month, Salazar was accused of encouraging doping among his athletes at the Nike Oregon Project during a BBC Panorama documentary, but the hour-long programme stressed that there was no suggestion that Farah was involved.

Farah had been scheduled to compete at the Birmingham Grand Prix later that week but withdrew 24 hours before the event, and the double Olympic champion has admitted that he wasn't in the right frame of mind to race in front of his home crowd.

The 32-year-old told Sky Sports News: "I was one of the first people to say, 'look, what is going on?' It was just before Birmingham. I wanted to get the race out of the way, but the night before the race, I remember thinking that the people need to know this. I remember being on the phone to Alberto and asking him about what is going on.

"He goes to me, 'Mo. These are just allegations. I can prove this to you. These are just allegations.' I was like, 'OK.' I tried to race, but my head wasn't there. There was just so much to deal with. I changed my flight. I went home."

Farah is due to return to action in Monaco on July 17.

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Great Britain's Mohamed Farah celebrates after winning the Men's 5000m final during the European Athletics Championships at the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich on August 17, 2014
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