Why is Mo Farah not competing at 2024 Olympic Games? Everything we know

Team GB stars have arrived in France ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, but one of the greatest British athletes to grace the summer games won't be among them. Mo Farah, who has four Olympic gold medals to his name as well as six world titles, will be confined to a spectator role when sport's biggest celebration gets underway on Friday.

Farah's finest hour came at the 2012 London Olympics, when he played a central role in the 'Super Saturday' that saw the 41-year-old triumph in the 10,000 metres, within minutes of heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill and long jumper Greg Rutherford also claiming gold.

He followed that up with first place in the 5,000m, and further cemented his legendary status in Rio four years later.

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Despite suffering a fall in the 10,000m, he successfully defended his crown, finding the resilience to sprint past Paul Tanui in the finishing straight. He again went on to achieve a double gold by winning the 5,000m, becoming only the second athlete in history to retain both Olympic titles.

At that point of his career, it seemed Farah had plenty left in the tank. But his participation in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was then thrown into doubt the following year when he confirmed he would be quitting track running in order to compete in marathon races.

However, in November 2019, the icon delighted fans by announcing he would return to track action in order to ensure he competed in Japan. Immediately, hype surrounding a potential fifth gold medal began, only for Farah's bid to be scuppered in freak circumstances.

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the games being postponed by 12 months. The delay did nothing to help Farah in his twilight years, and he ultimately failed to qualify a year later with his 10,000m time of 27:47 some 19 seconds off the required standard.

Immediately afterwards, he was pressed by reporters as to whether he would have another tilt at glory in Paris. Candidly, he admitted: "It's a tough one. If I can't compete with the best I'm not just going there to finish in a final. Tonight shows it's not good enough."

Farah did continue to compete for two more years, but his final bow came in September 2023 at the Great North Run. He remains the most successful British track athlete in the history of the Olympic Games.

However, for many, Farah's career is also tainted by the infamous Fancy Bears database hacking in 2017. It revealed that a report by the International Association of Athletics Federations had listed Farah as a suspected doper, although the leaks were alleged to have included altered or false documents.

Two years later the saga deepened, when the athlete's former coach Alberto Salazar received a four-year ban for the trafficking of testosterone to his athletes. Farah himself has repeatedly denied ever doping.