Double 2012 Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah has waded into Twitter trouble in a Taylor Swift-themed spat with team mate Andy Vernon.
Teddington-based distance runner Farah was criticised by Vernon for the lack of ‘stellar’ competition in the field when he competes for the first time this year at Birmingham’s Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday.
Vernon, who won medals behind Farah in the 5,000m and 10,000m at the European Championships last summer, initiated the exchange by writing:
“Another stellar field against Mo Farah on home turf this weekend at Birmingham. #joke”
The two indulged in a bit more back and forth before Farah dropped a Taylor Swift lyric, signing off a tweet with the hashtag #hatersgonnahate.
@AndyVernonGB I wish you did make the cut mate so I can leave you in my dust like ALWAYS!! hahahaha #hatersgonnahate
— Mo Farah (@Mo_Farah) February 17, 2015
Showing this was definitely not a Love Story, Vernon replied by saying “1) stop quoting Taylor Swift” before doing so himself, closing his tweet with #playersgonnaplay.
By this point other Twitter users had become aware of the pop lyric exchange and started imploring the pair to Shake It Off. Farah’s last post in the spat read “You’re an embarrassment!! Taylor Swift can probably run faster than you!”
@AndyVernonGB that’s why they didn’t put you in the race mate.. Cos you’re an embarrassment!! Taylor swift can probably run faster than you! — Mo Farah (@Mo_Farah) February 17, 2015
Vernon would ironically have probably lined up against Farah in the apparently weak field on Saturday if he wasn’t ruled out because of injury.
This isn’t the first time the long distance runner has become embroiled in a Twitter spat.
Last August he waded into an argument with fellow British athlete Lynsey Sharp.
Sharp won a silver medal in the 800m at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games less than 24 hours after being hospitalised through illness.
Vernon then drew widespread condemnation for tweeting “I don’t use a drip to get my medals” before backtracking and apologising for a joke that ‘got out of hand’.
Mo Farah image courtesy of BBC via YouTube, with thanks
Taylor Swift image courtesy of Big Machine/Republic, with thanks
