Mo Farah keeps feet on the ground ahead of Turin

Posted: Tuesday 24th February 2009 | 15:51

MO Farah insists he will be taking nothing for granted at the European Indoor Championships, despite heading to Turin as the red hot favourite.

ITALIAN JOB: (l-r) Donna Fraser, Mo Farah and Richard Buck will head to Turin on European quest

Farah heads to Italy as one of Great Britain's brightest medal hopes after an electric start to 2009.

The 25-year-old broke John Mayock's seven-year-old British 3000m indoor record in January, before slashing more than six seconds off that in Birmingham last week in a time of 7:34.47 minutes.

That put Farah top of the European rankings with less than two weeks to go until he competes in Italy, as the Somalian-born athlete continues his rehabilitation after below-par performance at the Beijing Olympics.

Disappointment in the Bird's Nest - failing to reach the 5000m final - hurt Farah, who was widely tipped as GB's best male hope for a track medal.

But a high-altitude pre-season training camp in Africa has seen Farah return to the track fully refreshed and determined to deliver on the major stage.

"I'm really pleased with the way the year has gone so far," he said. "But I'm not going to allow complacency to creep in.

"There will be some tough opposition in Turin and I've got some hard work ahead of me.

"I'm just concentrating on maintaining my focus and being at my best when it counts and then hopefully, the rewards should come."

There is also a place in the team for Donna Fraser in the 400m and 4x400m, fresh from her exploits at the UK Championships that saw her claim a 200m/400m double.

"I started out this indoor season just wanting to enjoy my athletics again," said 36-year-old Fraser, who will compete in her 14th major international event.

"I didn't really think it could have gone this well. I feel like I did about ten years ago and am really looking forward to competing for the Aviva Great Britain & Northern Ireland Team at the Europeans."

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL SQUAD