Mo Farah's Mobot is magical - Britain's greatest athlete could yet get greater

In reminiscing about the panoply of Britain's sporting heroes, it is easy to ignore the here and now. It is worth wondering if there has been a British athlete finer than Mohamed ‘Mo’ Farah? As a winning machine, a glorious advert for diversity over adversity, he is already well past the bell on the final lap. Farah’s latest, greatest success reminded us that you don't need a crowd behind you to drink from the golden chalice. In life or athletics.

Every stride of Farah’s latest rousing run at the 10,000m in Beijing, a race that will soon be given to him if he wins it any more, was probably represented by a watching punter inside the vast 91,000-capacity Bird Nest’s stadium such was the paucity of locals who bothered to hang about for our Mo. The first day of the World Championships didn’t appear to do it for the world’s most populated country. Which is a great pity and a mystery more piercing than the origin of Farah's 'mobot'. Those who missed Farah's flourish are all the poorer for it.

After Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin had stretched their legs in the 100m heats ahead of their much-vaunted tête-à-tête on Sunday night at the Bird’s Nest, it looked like some of the locals disappeared in less time than the 9.83seconds Gatlin clocked amid oppressive heat. Unlike Farah, perhaps the local buses in Beijing stop running beyond 11pm. It all seemed very surreal.

At least we know why West Ham United will soon be wheeled into the Olympic Stadium in London. If China cannot find enough people to fill their Olympic Stadium, athletics will never be able to occupy the minds and souls of football-daft England's green and pleasant lands.

As if to illustrate the point, Farah, born in Mogadishu but fighting out of Hounslow, asked a BBC reporter about Arsenal’s well-being while he celebrated his latest achievement in clocking 27:01.13secs in 25 degree heat and 60% debilitating humidity.

Not that Farah noticed when he draped himself in the Union flag. Farah is used to being a man alone both figuratively and literally amid the life of the long distance runner. Especially over the past 12 months. Some will say you should be careful about the company you keep. Farah has been blighted by his decision to stand by his man.

Farah’s coach Alberto Salazar has denied allegations made by the BBC linking him with doping, but the runner’s standing was hardly enhanced when he admitted that he had missed drugs test in 2010 and 2011.

Life being life, as cycling's Tour de France winner Chris Froome would concur while being pelted by a pot of piss out on the road competing, it didn’t take long for some to cast aspersions over Farah’s legitimacy.

"I'm really angry at the situation. It's not right or fair,” said Farah in June. "I haven't done anything but my name is getting dragged through the mud.

"I need to know what is going on. Are they true or not? If they turn out to be true, I will be the first person to leave him."

Some have been critical of Farah’s decision to stand by Salazar. But Farah is content with his business. Whatever occurs with Salazar further down the line should not burn Farah's achievements as he strides towards being held up as GB's premier contestant.

Innocent until proven guilty seems to be Farah’s manta in life. Deal in facts, not hearsay. He has already been interviewed by the US Anti-doping agency under oath. He is not suspected of any foul play.

His doggedness and single-mindedness extends to the track. Farah swats away the detractors by his level of commitment. Being content to run 27 minutes in conditions that you wouldn’t take your dog out for a walk in or yourself says enough about Farah’s fortitude. Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor and Paul Tanui chased him in the home straight. They were never going to catch him. A stumble on the last lap couldn't halt him.

Farah banged his own drum after banging a big Chinese drum in the stadium.

Who is greater than Mo and his mobot from these parts? Fellow English icons Daley Thompson or Sebastian Coe immediately spring to mind. How do they compare? Farah has won two Olympic titles at 5,000m and 10,000m. He has four world titles – one at 5,000m in 2011 and two at 5,000 and 10,000m in 2013, and one at 10,000m in 2015 with the prospect of another gold on Saturday. Add five European golds – the 5,000 and 10,000m double coming last year – and you can only admire a fairly impregnable record.

Decathlete Thompson made off with two Olympic golds in 1980 and 1984, a world gold in 1983 and two European golds in 1982 and 1986. He also broke the world record for decathlon four times.

Middle-distance runner Coe, newly elected president of International Association of Athletics Federations, snagged 1500m gold at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games, and landed 1500m gold at the 1986 European Championships. He set eight outdoor records in middle-distance running over 800m and 1500m, and three indoor records during an astonishing career.

In sighting his unmistakable glistening frame complete with Mobot, seemingly unbroken from London’s Olympics of three years ago, Farah was immediately turning his slender frame to the assault on a double double – a repeat dose of victory in the 5,000 and 10,000m coming after Moscow in 2013 would break new ground on an athletics track.

With the heats of the 5,000m on Wednesday and the final on Saturday, it is difficult to envisage anything other than another fabulous Farah finish. 12-and-a-half laps stand between him and another part of the legacy.

Farah will only be caught if he lets himself be. It would be a poignant finale seven years after he failed to qualify for the final of the same event at the Beijing Olympics. These are different times. This is a different man.

A world record over 5,000m or 10,000m would be nice in the autumn of his career, perhaps over marathon distance, but is surely not essential.

At the age of 32, Farah should be left alone to wallow in golds, his mobot and his penchant for making world class opponents seem pedestrian. Great Britain should feel proud of a great sportsman, whose desire to win is greater than his natural gait. Practice makes perfect, but it also makes men like Mo Farah.

In the panoply of heroes, it is easy to ignore the here and now. Is there any British sportsman greater than our Mo?