Mo Farah was bounced around like a ping-pong ball at the World Indoor Championships, but when the dust finally settled and he was left empty-handed, he acknowledged he deserved no other fate, writes Gerard Meagher.

Farah found himself with too much work to do on the final lap of 3,000m final in Istanbul last week and was forced to settle for fourth place in a time of seven minutes 41.79 seconds in controversial circumstances.

The 28-year-old was handed bronze after Kenyan Edwin Cheruiyot Soi was disqualified for illegally blocking Farah’s path, only for Soi’s team to successfully counter-protest the decision.

“I’m very disappointed, I wanted to get a medal out here, Bernard [Lagat] is the defending champion and so he’s a worthy winner,” said Farah.

“My preparation was pretty good coming here. I got a bit of a bump and I had a lot of work to do on the last lap and it just wasn’t enough.

“I don’t think it was a case of one race too many at all. It was all about tactics. “It’s all a learning curve. I’m just very disappointed, but my confidence is still high.”

Meanwhile, Teddington’s Andrew Osagie believes a cool head secured him an 800m bronze medal, claiming he has finally shown what he can do in a major final.

The 24-year-old St Mary’s Univeristy-based athlete timed his sprint finish to perfection to clinch bronze, crossing the line in 1:48.92 for a place on the podium.

It erases the bad memories Osagie has of the previous World Indoor Championships in 2010 in Doha when he just missed out on the final.

“I’m so happy to get a medal, I stayed calm and didn’t panic. I knew the race wasn’t that fast and that I had that kind of finish in me,” he said.

“It was my first major final and now I’ve got a medal, it gives me huge confidence. It’s just the boost you need in Olympic year and the motivation.”

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