MO GLORY NOT MO CASH
Farah’s focused on joining the greats, not on big-city paydays says coach
SIR MO FARAH can join the greats of marathon running, his coach Gary Lough believes.
Britain’s most successful track athlete began his new road career with third place behind winner Eliud Kipchoge in Sunday’s London Marathon.
In a race overshadowed by tragedy with the death of former MasterChef star Matt Campbell, who collapsed at the 22.5-mile mark, Farah broke the 33-year-old British record.
And Lough, the husband of marathon legend Paula Radcliffe, says he saw enough to convince him that Farah will become one of the very best.
Lough said: “Eliud is the best marathon runner ever and I think Mo can get to a similar level – one or two in the world.
“London showed there is a lot more to come and the guy definitely has a lot of marathon potential.
“Put him into a championship environment – next year at the Worlds in Doha and certainly the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo – and I definitely think Mo should be someone rivals have got major concerns about.”
Lough rubbished suggestion the 10-time Olympic and world track champion was not serious about Tokyo and only in it for the big-city marathon paydays.
“When we first sat down, one of my questions was trying to figure out Mo’s motivation,” said the Ulsterman, who coached Radcliffe to her seemingly untouchable world record back in 2003. “If it was just ticking boxes, if it was just because it was expected of him, I was not really sure it was the thing for me. “But I could see the real desire. “He wants to be the best that he can be and I think that is one of the best in the world.” Kipchoge, 33, has won nine out his 10 marathons, and came within 25 seconds of the first sub two-hour time in Monza last summer – although that run was outside race conditions and is not a ratified time.
“I think 2:03, 2:04 is realistic for Mo,” Lough said.
“Some stuff that he’s done is incredible, there’s some stuff we’ve got to add.”
Farah believes his track pedigree will make him a real threat in championships where there are no pacemakers.
“No world championships has been run that ridiculously quick,” he said, pointing to a world champs record of 2:06:54 which is slower than the 2:06:21 he clocked on Sunday.