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Mo Farah: Tokyo Olympics delay could boost my medal chances

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Olympic champion Mo Farah has said the delayed Games could work in his favour and boost his chances of winning gold in Tokyo.

The Olympics has been been postponed until next year due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and is set to begin on July 23, 2021.

Coronavirus: Postponements and cancellations in sport

Farah, who announced his ambition to compete at the Games in November after his retirement from track athletics, said the postponement has given him more time to prepare.

"It is probably, in my honest opinion, not a bad thing for me because it gives you a bit more time to train for it, to do more races, because I would have gone from the marathon and then the following year straight to the track," he told Athletics Weekly.

"Obviously, I'm not a spring chicken any more. You take what you can from it. You'll definitely see me doing a similar thing to what you've seen before.

"Do a few races and get strong and get fit and then from there go on to the track and use the track leading up to the Tokyo Olympics."

"I'm not thinking about marathons, to be honest with you. I'm just thinking, Tokyo."

Meanwhile, the four-time Olympic champion paid tribute to British track and field official Neil Black who died at the age of 60.

On Tuesday, British Athletics announced that Black had died over the weekend without disclosing any details.

Black was performance director of British Athletics from 2012 until last year, when he stepped down after coming under pressure because of the organization's handling of a controversy involving Alberto Salazar, who was banned for four years for doping violations.

Black stood by Salazar and the coach's work as a consultant to the British team after a BBC investigation of the tainted Nike Oregon Project run by Salazar.

"Neil supported me all the way in my career since I was kid..!! My heart is broken," Farah said on Twitter. "I wouldn't be where I am today without Neil Black.''

Aside from Farah, Black also worked closely with other British track greats like Sally Gunnell, Linford Christie, Colin Jackson, Jonathan Edwards and Jessica Ennis.

Information from the Associated Press has been included in this report.