Mo Farah came from the pack to win the 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships.
With 55,000 of his home fans roaring their support at the London Stadium, the 34-year-old Briton sprinted away with his 10th consecutive gold medal in a global track final, a dazzling sequence that ranks among the greatest feats in sport.
Farah survived being clipped twice from behind in the final lap, nearly tripping over, before unleashing a trademark burst down the home straight to burst away from Ugandan silver medallist Joshua Cheptegei and Kenyan bronze medal winner Paul Tanui.
The Briton clocked 26 minutes 49.51 seconds, the world's fastest time in 2017, in what proved perhaps the hardest-earned of all his magnificent triumphs as he protected his six-year unbeaten streak in major championships.
Cheptegei clocked a lifetime best 26:49.94 and Tanui 26:50.60 but, five years to the very night when he won the 25-lap title at his home Olympics on "Super Saturday" in the same London Stadium, Farah had still not lost that invincible aura.
Yet despite momentarily losing his rhythm, the champion regrouped to take control on the back straight and he scorched off the final bend to forge clear and take his third successive world 10,000m title by a couple of metres.
Still, though, he has only done half the job with the 5,000 metres to come next week and the prospect of completing a fifth straight 5,000/10,000 distance double in global championships.
The 16th edition of the Championships could not have been set up more ideally for Britain to celebrate a home triumph in the first medal event and Farah, as ever, did not disappoint his legion of fans.
After he crossed the line, he swore that the noise in the stadium matched the incredible din of his 2012 tours de force when he won the 10,000m and 5,000m here.
It's goooooooold 🥇 for @Mo_Farah! 3 straight world 1ï¸âƒ£0ï¸âƒ£0ï¸âƒ£0ï¸âƒ£0ï¸âƒ£ã€½ï¸ titles. 10 global 🥇s #BeTheNext #MoFarah pic.twitter.com/aTxTTn7qa6
— IAAF World Champs (@IAAFWorldChamps) August 4, 2017
Down the years, his main opponents from Kenya have tried in vain to upset Farah's equilibrium, sometimes working in teams and varying their pace and tactics but the master racer always has an answer in the sprint denouement.
Once again, the same scenario unfolded with, this time, two Ugandans teaming up with the Kenyan trio of Geoffrey Kamworor, Bedan Karoki and Tanui to pressurise him.
A couple of blistering 61-second laps were thrown in to try to shake him but Farah's composure never wavered as he continued a sequence of race triumphs that no distance great - not Haile Gebrselassie, Paavo Nurmi or Emil Zatopek - ever achieved.
Mo Farah has thanked his Arsenal fans after that #London2017 gold.#bbcathletics #BeTheNext pic.twitter.com/LYZX4mixiP
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 4, 2017
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