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Mo Farah returned to action for the first time following his Olympic double gold at the Aviva Birmingham Grand Prix in the two-mile event.
The 29-year-old Londoner won with predictable ease, bursting away from the field with 200 metres to go, but was unable to break Steve Ovett's 34-year-old European outdoor record.
Farah, who celebrated the birth of twin girls on Friday, clocked eight minutes 27.24 seconds over the rarely-run distance, well short of Ovett's mark of 8mins 13.51secs.
After his winning run, Farah insisted the record was not on his mind. He said: "Not at all. To be honest with you I've had a hard week with (wife) Tania giving birth.
"The other night I didn't get much sleep as well. Then I came up here, that wasn't easy. I got great support from the crowd so my main aim was just to come out here, win the race and not even think about any time.
"I've felt a bit tired to be honest. It's been hard. The Olympics was what I trained so hard for with all the miles week in, week out.
"I've just got one more race and then that will be it for me. Then I'm looking forward to taking my break and spending a bit of time with the two little ones."
Farah, who won the 5,000 and 10,000 metres titles in London, was roared on by a 12,700 capacity crowd at the Alexander Stadium.
Tributes to the man could be seen around the stadium, including a wicker Farah, in full Team GB kit and in his trademark 'Mobot' celebration, on a grassy bank between two stands, while a 'Mo Cam' went round the stands capturing fans doing the pose.
Farah's last race of the season will be the Great North Run half-marathon on September 16.
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