Olympic gold medallist Sir Mo Farah will finish his last London race in Greenwich next month when he joins thousands of others in The Big Half.

Farah, who has won four Olympic gold medals – including two at the London Games in 2012 – is the most decorated athlete in British track and field history. He announced in April that this year would be his final year before retirement.

Raised in west London, Farah started his career as a junior runner and won the London Mini Marathon in 1999 and 2000. He ended his major championships career by winning the gold medal in the 10,000m at the 2017 World Championships in London, while he came third in the London Marathon in 2018.

Farah has also won The Big Half three times, including the first event in 2018. He returns for one last race on September 3, when he will line up in Wapping to run through Canary Wharf, Tower Bridge, Rotherhithe and Deptford to cross the finish line at the Cutty Sark.

He said: “I’m excited to run my last ever London race at The Big Half. It will be bittersweet, knowing it will be the last time I race competitively in my hometown but it’s always such a great day and I know the London crowds will be cheering me on, as they always do. I look forward to being back in London and hope to bring home the win one final time.”  

Spencer Barden, the head of elite athletes at London Marathon Events, said: “It’s fantastic to have Sir Mo leading the field at this year’s The Big Half. Mo has had a phenomenal career and everyone at London Marathon Events wishes him all the best in his retirement. Before that though, we hope he signs off his racing career in London with another record-breaking win at The Big Half.”  

Conceived as a community spin-off from the London Marathon, The Big Half will also have an elite field taking part this year as it will be a UK qualifying event 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships Half Marathon in Latvia this October.

More than 15,000 people are expected to take part in The Big Half, which aims to celebrate the diversity of the boroughs which the race passes through – Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lewisham and Greenwich. The event also includes the Big Relay, in which teams of four complete 5k of the route each, and the free, family-oriented Big Mile through Greenwich.

More information about The Big Half on September 3 – including road closures and how to enter – is at thebighalf.co.uk.