Mo Farah, who came to the Olympics as one of Great Britain’s top medal hopes, leaves as the finest distance runner in the world with a step-up to the marathon a possible future target.
The Londoner, who won gold in the 10,000m a week earlier, sealed a sensational double on Saturday with victory in the 5,000m, roared home by a delirious packed house on the final night of track and field.
Heptathlon gold medallist Jessica Ennis came into the Games as Britain’s poster girl but Farah has arguably surpassed her as a role model for the nation’s aspiring athletes.
Farah is only the seventh man to achieve the 5,000m-10,000m double, adding his name to an illustrious list of runners that includes Czech Emil Zatopek, Finland’s Lasse Viren, Ethiopian Miruts Yifter and Kenenisa Bekele.
Now the 29-year-old, who moved to Britain at the age of eight after being born in Somalia and spending some years in Djibouti, is eyeing stepping up to the marathon — but said there was no rush.
“I still want to keep taking part in the 5,000 and 10,000 so there’s still a lot of stuff to be achieved,” he said.
“In my career I’d like to step up to the marathon but not yet — keep doing what I’m doing because it’s working and see if I can get more medals. In your career you want to be able to collect as many medals as you can.”
Despite the immensity of his achievement, the modest Farah was keen to play down suggestions that he might be Britain’s greatest ever track and field athlete — saying London Olympics chief organiser Sebastian Coe was a “legend.”
And he laughed off suggestions that he was now a living legend in the same bracket as Usain Bolt, who on Saturday won his third gold of the Games with victory in the 4x100m.
The two athletes celebrated together on the podium, Farah mimicking the Jamaican’s “Lightning Bolt” celebration while Bolt performed the “Mobot”, where he forms an “M” shape above his head.
“To come back to another Olympics and to win double then that might be sort of kind of getting there. But he’s won three gold medals plus the world record. Come on,” said Farah, who won 5,000 gold at last year’s world championships.
Farah might fancy trying his hand at the marathon but the more pressing challenge is dealing with twin girls, with his wife due to give birth imminently.
He praised the “inspiring” 80,000-crowd in the Olympic stadium and said the thought of his twin girls drove him on.
“I want each of my twins to have a gold medal. This is what was driving me on,” said the avid Arsenal fan, who trains in Portland, Oregon, with his coach, marathon legend Alberto Salazar.
“I’ve been doing 120 miles a week. It’s been hard and I’m tired but when you have a vision, when you have a dream, you dig in,” he added.
Double gold Mo eyes marathon challenge
