Jonathan Edwards backing Mo Farah for a second Olympic double

Farah has not lost a major outdoor track final since the 2011 World Championships and heads into the Olympics as runaway favourite in both the 5000m and 10,000m.

“He’s looked very strong on the track this year,” said Edwards, who will front Eurosport’s coverage of the European Athletics Championships this week.

“All the people I know close to him say he’s in great shape and are backing him to win the 10,000m, although in the 5000m he might be more vulnerable.

“I’ve listened to commentary on Mo Farah’s races for years and years, and there’s always been the comment: ‘why did the Ethiopians and Kenyans wait for so long [before attacking]?’ They know Mo is so strong in a last-lap burn-up, but they don’t seem capable of producing the sustained running necessary to take the sting out of Farah’s finish.

“He’s been at the very top now, winning medal after medal at major championships, for six years. So some of the younger legs might beat him over 5000m, but I would still go for him to do the double.”

Although Farah will be absent from the Europeans, Great Britain still head to Amsterdam with a strong squad containing Greg Rutherford, Jo Pavey and Tiffany Porter.

They are targeting a repeat performance from Zurich in 2014, when they topped the medal table with a record 12 golds.

The championships will be broadcast live on Eurosport from July 6-10.

“British Athletics had previously said they weren’t going to encourage athletes to come home, it was all about focusing on Rio,” said Edwards. “But, as it’s turned out, a lot of the top athletes want to come to fine tune their preparation, or maybe look for a qualifying time. It whets the appetite for Rio.

“It’s also great practice for the relay squads in the heat of competition ahead of Rio,” he added. Britain have an unwanted reputatation for failing to get the baton round at major championships, most recently as the World Championships in Beijing when the men’s 4x100m squad imploded.

“I actually think Britain will do very well. That being said, France, Germany and Poland have all sent strong teams. You’ve also got to factor in that there are no Russians here, so there’s potentially a lot more medals up for grabs.”

Russia will be absent from the championships after their nation’s federation was banned following accusations of running a state-sponsored doping programme, although Russian whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova will compete as a neutral in the 800m. They finished fourth in the medal table in 2014 with 22 medals.

Edwards, whose triple jump world record of 18.29m from 1995 still stands, suggested Rutherford could become Britain's greatest jumper in history if he retains his title in Rio.

Rutherford, only the fifth British athlete to hold Olympic, Commonwealth, European and world titles, will have his work cut out though, with his American rivals showing ominous form at the US trials. Jeff Henderson won with a wind-assisted 8.59m in Eugene, with Jarrion Lawson second in a legal 8.58m.

"I know how difficult it is to win an Olympic title, let along retain one, having been hot favourite in 1996 (when he took silver) and won in 2000," said Edwards.

"He is certainly one of Britain's greatest jumpers, if not its greatest jumper, if he retains his title in Rio. He's had an amazing run of form this last four years."

Usain Bolt’s hopes of claiming another gold haul at the Rio Games were plunged into doubt after the 29-year-old suffered a grade one hamstring tear at the Jamaican trials.

[RELATED: Bolt hopes to prove fitness in London to secure Rio spot]

The six-time Olympic champion still hopes to return at the London Anniversary Games later in July, but with Justin Gatlin in fine fettle at the US trials, winning in 9.8 seconds, he faces a battle to get into gold medal contention.

However, Edwards insisted it was too early to predict the outcome, labelling Bolt's recovery in 2015 to win three golds in Beijing as “miraculous”.

“I was reading that he was slightly injured in his Olympic year in 2012," he added. "Obviously last year he had horrible form and somehow managed to beat a man in incredible form, in Justin Gatlin.

“He does seem capable of the miraculous. We’ll just have to wait and see – I guess we’ll have a better idea after the Anniversary Games. It’s too soon to say his chances are over.”