Great Britain's Mo Farah withdraws from Edinburgh cross country with illness

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah has pulled out of the Great Edinburgh XCountry international challenge due to illness.

The 31-year-old was scheduled to go up against the United States and Europe in Saturday's event at Holyrood Park, but will no longer be able to compete.

"Unfortunately, I have to cancel my participation as I had the flu over Christmas and New Year," BBC Sport quotes Farah as saying.

"My main goal for 2015 is the IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Beijing and I will keep training hard to defend my 5,000m and 10,000m titles."

Illness forced Farah to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last summer, but he recovered in time to secure double gold at the European Championships.