How do you beat Mo Farah?

At the World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff in 2016, Geoffrey Kamworor and Bedan Karoki, two top Kenyan long-distance runners, set a blistering pace from the start (despite a stumbling start from Kamworor) and took turns to ensure the pace was not let up, all the way to the finish. The result was that Mo Farah was beaten conclusively by 49 seconds, as Kamworor won in 59:10, almost worth a full lap around the track.

Karoki didn't do badly for himself, finishing second, 26 seconds behind Kamworor. The other takeaway for fans was that all three set their season's best times.

Mo Farah has been beaten before

Mo Farah was beaten before the London Olympics in 2012, when Ibrahim Jeilan unleashed an unbelievable sprint in the final stretch of the 10000m final at Daegu in 2011. Then there was Mukhtar Edris, who edged him in the 5000m final at the World Athletics Championships in London in 2017.

Both Edris and Kamworor used their younger compatriots to do much of the grunt work while putting their own talents to good use to hang on and finish fast. The other, perhaps more important aspect, is that team tactics are important. It's something the East African teams don't always do well at. But when they get together, they can ensure at least one of them finishes on the podium.

Mo Farah isn't that fast

Mo Farah's 10000m time is not in the top 15 timings of all time. In fact, his personal best (PB) time for 10000m was set a decade ago, in 2011. It is likely that most of the Kenyan, Ethiopian and Ugandan teams at the Tokyo Olympics will have personal bests faster than Mo Farah has run since Daegu.

Young Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo ran 26:33.93 just last week in Ostrava. He wasn't even wearing the new generation shoes that have driven the crazy streak of records being broken in the last 3-4 years.

His current higher-rated compatriot, Joshua Cheptegei, is already the world record holder. Since they possess the ability, Mo Farah's rivals should strive to set a fast pace from the beginning. They should never settle for anything slower than his personal best (26:46.57), which he is unlikely to maintain, let alone have some juice left for his kick.

While Mo Farah isn't the favorite to win at Tokyo, he's a very good tactical racer, as evidenced in the final of the 10000m event at the London Olympics in 2012. He combined with his training partner, USA's Galen Rupp, to slow the race down and reached the halfway point (5000m mark) in 14:05. That's something one sees even in men's marathons these days, let alone at less than a quarter of that distance!

They eventually wound it up in the last few laps, with Farah winning with a not-too-impressive 27:30.42. The field realized a little too late that they had played right into his hands by allowing him to sit and kick.

What if Mo Farah isn't the one to beat?

While Mo Farah is no longer the favorite (Cheptegei is the overwhelming choice), at least one of the above tactics can work for anyone aspiring to beat the East African athletes. Both the Kenyans and Ethiopians have, in the past, successfully used team tactics against each other and other rivals. The fact that Mo Farah isn't the favorite may also change the dynamics of the race, since the other runners won't be watching what he does before deciding on their actions.

The 10000m at the Tokyo Olympics is likely to be different but Mo Farah's rivals would do well to keep these two tactics in mind - run furiously fast from the start, and stick together.