With four Olympic Golds and four World Championship Golds, he's probably got going to lose too much sleep and about. One of the greatest competitive performers in track history..
Sammy Wanjiru is #99 with 2:05:10, but that was just another era (2009) with no super shoes.
How does that affect his legacy, compared with Kenenisa Bekele, Haile G, Eliud Kipchoge, the newcomers (Joshua Cheptegei, Jakob...etc)
Mo's legacy has always been slow PRs, except for the 1500m.
His legacy, when compared to these other greats, earns him the name Slo-Mo.
One early great you did not mention is Paul Tergat. Quick PR comparison:
5000m: Tergat 12:49.87, Farah 12:53.11
10000m: Tergat 26:27.95, Farah 26:47.57
Marathon: Tergat 2:04:55, Farah 2:05:11
And what did Tergat's PBs get him? A bunch of silver medals.
Farah didn't run fast time trial type races, but he was one of the fastest championship racers of all time. At the point he retired in 2017, he had the 2nd and 4th fastest winning times in championship 10,000 finals. Only Bekele had run faster.
Farah never had any incentive to run a TT. He didn't think he could hit WRs, so he focussed on medals. Ask Grant Fisher right now if he'd trade his 26:33 for just one World or Olympic gold medal.
Also ask yourself why no one has been able to do the 5/10 double since Farah retired. It's incredibly hard. That he did it four times in global champs is astonishing.
So, no, his average marathon career has no impact on his legacy. The fact that he won a major - something that define the career of many good athletes - and it's just a footnote on his record tells you something about how successful he was.
With four Olympic Golds and four World Championship Golds, he's probably got going to lose too much sleep and about. One of the greatest competitive performers in track history..
Slight correction: he has 6 World Championship golds. He also has two silvers, which no one ever mentions. You have no idea what UK Athletics would give to have just one silver medal from a distance runner at the minute - hell, it would be nice for UKA if a British man could even hit the 5 and 10k qualifying standards. Mo Farah and Jess Ennis papered over so many cracks in British athletics.
Sammy Wanjiru is #99 with 2:05:10, but that was just another era (2009) with no super shoes.
How does that affect his legacy, compared with Kenenisa Bekele, Haile G, Eliud Kipchoge, the newcomers (Joshua Cheptegei, Jakob...etc)
Copenhagen this Sunday could be the location. The two fastest are already in the top 100, but a PB from Kenneth Keter, Victor Chumo, Solomon Kirwa, or Dadi Yami could tip Mo out
Sammy Wanjiru is #99 with 2:05:10, but that was just another era (2009) with no super shoes.
How does that affect his legacy, compared with Kenenisa Bekele, Haile G, Eliud Kipchoge, the newcomers (Joshua Cheptegei, Jakob...etc)
Copenhagen this Sunday could be the location. The two fastest are already in the top 100, but a PB from Kenneth Keter, Victor Chumo, Solomon Kirwa, or Dadi Yami could tip Mo out