By Sam Tonks
Last summer, one of London Stadium’s most iconic stars retired from track action in the Stadium where he had cemented quite the legacy in 2012. So, it is fair to remember his final Olympic gold, this week two years ago.
Mo Farah completed an Olympic ‘double double’ with gold in the 5,000m with a superb sprint finish. His ninth global title extended his tally as Great Britain’s most successful track and field athlete of all time.
Only Lasse Viren of Finland had completed a long distance ‘double double’, winning at the 1972 Munich games and four years later in Montreal.
Not only is he a British great, but one of the best long-distance athletes ever, a surreal accomplishment for the Somalian-born Farah.
“My legs were a bit tired after the 10k, I don’t know how I recovered,†he said.
“I wished for just one medal as a junior.
“It has been a long journey but if you dream of something, have ambitions and are willing to work hard then you can get your dreams."
In what turned out to be Great Britain’s most successful Olympics since 1908, Farah was a memorable figure and will be forever written into the history books of athletics.
Former Olympic medallist and British long-distance athlete Brendan Foster followed Farah from start of his career to the end, proclaiming him as a national treasure
“Mo, you are a treasure. You are more than a national treasure. You are the greatest we have ever had and one of the greatest distance runners we have ever seen,†said Foster.
Olympic 400m champion Michael Johnson praised Mo as a special athlete who thrived on the world’s stage.
“What else makes Mo special is his race intelligence and ability to show up on the day and deliver the performance he is capable of,†he said.
There weren’t many who delivered in the big moments as often as Mo Farah did.
