Mo Farah has turned down the chance to contest the marathon in the World Championships in Doha, increasing the possibility of a return to the track.

As first indicated in the Guardian, Farah, who finished fifth in the London marathon on Sunday, had been eligible for selection for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team, but has opted to decline his place.

The 36-year-old four-time Olympic champion could now target a fourth successive world title over 10,000m instead, having claimed gold in Moscow in 2013, Beijing in 2015 and London in 2017.

Steph Twell also turned down her place in the marathon but British Athletics announced on Wednesday that Callum Hawkins, Dewi Griffiths, Charlotte Purdue and Tish Jones would compete over 26.2 miles in Doha.

Hawkins and Purdue both recorded significant personal bests in the London marathon to move into third on the respective all-time UK lists, while Griffiths impressed in just his second outing over the distance and Jones recorded the exact qualifying standard of two hours, 31 minutes.

Cameron Corbishley and Dominic King have also been selected to compete in the men’s 50km race walk.

British Athletics performance director Neil Black said: “Each of the six athletes selected have performed extremely well to confirm their places in Doha, many setting personal bests and establishing themselves among the UK’s best all-time in their events.

“The IAAF World Championships in Doha are a very important marker ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and we look forward to being as competitive as possible in both events.”