Yet as he outlined his ambitions for the future, you could glimpse the fire and steel which he believes could one day take him on to the most elevated Olympian plane inhabited by Bolt.
“I’ve had an opportunity and I’ve done it well so far but to be a legend like him, I’ll have to go from the track, break world records, tackle the marathon - there is lots of stuff to be done,” mused Farah. “I don’t know what I needed to do to be the greatest. I personally would have thought it’s about winning another double, breaking records, succeeding at different distances, winning more medals…”
This did not sound like a bloke ready to rest on considerable laurels. “I know my opposition and they’ll be more hungry now. So tonight, I’m going to go for a run!” he laughed. Excellent. Straight from the Daley Thompson school of obsession.
Back at his four-bedroom home in Oregon, downstairs from the bedroom where he runs on a treadmill while watching English football on the telly, Farah revealed he has all his medals up on a wall, next to an Arsenal shirt signed by all the players. He had, perhaps sub-consciously, left a space for two lumps of gold – one each for his twins after wife Tania gives birth in the next few weeks.
He better prepare some more space too because the 29-year-old’s ambitions still sound boundless. He has a gut feeling he could be a great marathon runner – although he jokes “I could turn out to be rubbish” – and how British athletics would love to see that since it has never produced a male Olympic or world champion at the distance.
Indeed, Farah has not completely ruled out making his debut in the event at next year’s London Marathon. “It would be amazing to do that event. It’s an option but I haven’t talked to Alberto (Salazar, his coach) or Ricky (Simms, his manager) about it yet,” said the man who will be taking on the half-marathon in the Great North Run next month before he belatedly observes Ramadan.
Yet Farah believes Salazar will “probably say it’s too early for the roads”, especially when there is a chance to establish a domination of distance running on the track in the same way that Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie once did. “If I feel I am losing my speed, I will go in that direction (of the marathon),” he said.
You can see that Farah trusts Salazar implicitly. As he reflected on how the gamble of his career to transplant his family to the US and reinvent himself under the ruthless but brilliant taskmaster’s guidance had paid off so spectacularly, he could not help laughing when he thought about how Salazar had once said that our new double Olympic champion “ran like a girl”.
“It was because he thought I wasn’t using my arms when I'm sprinting and when I was tired I'm all over the place. He thought I was weak so we strengthened my core, my weight, running on the underwater treadmill, the anti-gravity treadmill and used the cryotherapy chamber.
“He’s a genius, unbelievable. He got criticism in the world indoor championships in Istanbul when things didn't go my way but to move on from there and get it right for me in London is incredible, because this opportunity ain’t going to come around again.”
So that skinny athlete emerged here in two incredible Saturday slogs to be a deceptive and dazzling tough of the track. When it came to those never to be forgotten last lap burn ups, Farah clocked 52.94sec for the final circuit to land Saturday's 5,000 crown to add to the decisive 53.48sec lap which earned him the 10,000m.
It was, said Farah, an incredible feeling knowing that you have the strength to instruct your rivals ‘thou shalt not pass’.
“I can feel I’m stronger but if I hadn’t made that change to join Alberto, I don’t think I would have been competing with the best guys today,” he said. “That one or two per cent improvement on the last lap has made all the difference.
“As a kid growing up in London after coming from Somalia, it just shows you no matter who you are or where you come from, if you work hard at something you can achieve it. If what I’ve done can inspire youngsters then I’m very proud.”
And we are all very proud of Mo, a good guy and a great athlete. Oh yes, and it should perhaps be pointed out that he and Tania may have offered one other fantastic service to British athletics.
“I hope our twins are going to be athletes,” revealed Farah with a smile. “I’ve seen the scan and they’ve got their dad’s long legs!” A Mo-mentous dynasty then? The rest of the world should be quaking.
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar