Farah, Defar win New Orleans half marathon titles

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Double Olympic champion Mo Farah edged Ethiopia's Gebre Gebremariam on Sunday in a finishing sprint to win the Rock `n' Roll New Orleans Half Marathon.

Farah, Britain's gold medalist in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the London Olympics, won in an event record time of 1 hour, 59 seconds.

Ethiopia's Merest Defar, who won the women's 5,000 at London, captured her division in New Orleans in 1:07:25.

Farah says he was pushing hard, particularly in the last 200 meters with Gebremariam, a former New York City Marathon champion, alongside him.

Defar was more than a minute ahead of American Shalane Flanagan, a 10,000-meter bronze medalist at the Beijing Games.