True / False: Brendan Foster says Mo Farah is the Messi of our sport & greatest British athlete ever (all sports)

Pretty ridiculous statement to be making about Mo considering that there are numerous other British athletes with as good or better accolades. If it's about world/Olympic medals then:

Jason Kenny (track cycling) - 7 Olympic gold medals (total Olympic medals) and 3 world championship gold medals and 5 silver medals.
Chris Hoy (track cycling) - 6 Olympic gold medals and 11 world championship gold medals.
Bradley Wiggins (track and road cycling) - 5 Olympic gold medals and 7 world championship gold medals.
Laura Kenny (track cycling) - 5 Olympic gold medals and 7 world championship gold medals.
Steve Redgrave (rowing) - 5 Olympic gold medals and 9 world championship gold medals.
Ben Ainslie (sailing) - 4 Olympic gold medals.
Mo Farah - 4 Olympic gold medals and 6 world championship gold medals.

If you went just by their own athleticism and accolades in their own right, then George Best, Jonny Wilkinson, Linford Christie, Joe Calzaghe, Paula Radcliffe, Nicola Adams etc. would all be at the same level or higher.

Farah's 5000 and 10000m golds are not equivalent to Seb Coe's 1500 golds (not to mention that Coe was denied a third gold in Seoul for political reasons). There is a reason Jakob prioritizes the 1500 over the 5000 and doesn't even try the 10000, even though he would be likely more dominant in those distances.

Then you add Coe's WRs and 800 silvers. Coe didn't have lottery funding, NOP, or altitude training in Ethiopia with Jama Aden.

The 5000 and 10000 were not global sports in Mo's era. He dominated a few doped up Africans from the Rift Valley. The 1500 is a far more global sport. The 800 is the most global track event and Coe set a world record that stood nearly two decades and is still only bettered by a couple of dubious Kenyans.

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Max Woosnam

Maxwell "Max" Woosnam (6 September 1892 – 14 July 1965) was a British sportsman who is sometimes referred to as the 'Greatest British sportsman' in recognition of his achievements.Among his achievements were winning an Olympi...

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Almost all of those compete in Olympic sports which are basically contested by five countries. They're the "white" sports, those in which the barriers to entry are so high that you have to be born in a rich country to even start to participate. Farah won his Olympic medals in a truly global sport. He had to beat the best in the world, not just the best who could afford to compete.

The metric was medal achievements according to Brendan. If that's the case then those athletes have objectively achieved more medals than Mo.

Separately, the athletes I listed at the bottom in terms of athleticism - not just in terms of medals - are all global sports (football, boxing, sprints, and rugby). Mo stands among them but not above them IMO. Mo was fantastic and one of our best, but you can't plausibly say he stands above them as our "Messi".

So Grant Fisher is clean? Use logic man.

Link? Very interested in this

I'll echo other sentiments. He's a great championship runner, though he benefitted from a historically weak period in competition, as older champs aged out, and younger prospects focused on the roads where the money was better. I don't think Mo would've beaten Geb or Bekele at their peaks.

But he never set world records in the events he was most proficient at, only setting a 2 mile indoor record. He needed a world mark in the 5 or the 10 before I'd really rate him amongst the best of all time. As for greatest British athlete, I still think I'd pick Paula Radcliffe or Seb Coe, who were dominant runners and set numerous world bests.

What about my husband? I've yet to see a movie called "Bend it Like Farah"

I was a huge soccer fan growing up and I watched Messi closely from 2012 to 2018. While I think it's a lame comparison for the fact that T&F is an Amateur Sport where as Soccer is more skill-related than genetics.

I don't think Farah is the Messi of our sport because he held no WRs in either 5k or 10k. Messi was more than just trophies, he was a goalscorer, had skills, and his dribbling was second to none. Farah was a good tactical runner and won medals. Time-wise. His 12:53 5k and 26:46 10k were good but aren't in the top 20. Plus, Farah's longevity of success declined after 2018 when he hit the Marathon. He might've been the Messi of 5k/10k but all-around distance runner. Nah. Long Shot. I'd say the closest we've had was Gebrselassie.

I will take the Foster that ran 735 3000m back in the day,

over a clean Farah, every day of the week.

Foster's form is very deceptive, when he's running 61 seconds per lap, it looks like 65.

in the link you can see Foster looking like he's almost jogging and over taking an African who appears to be rushing like he's stolen something in a getaway from a 7/11

Foster is the man. and better than Viren with his Reindeer Milk infusions.

Viren and Farah, go rot in hell.

superior genetics in action, moorcroft WR solo, wet, minus shoes delux track, etc.

Coevett, do you agree, that a doped Coe would have run 1:39, with current shoes, tracks and wavelight easily 1:38 or faster?
What do you think? 1:38? 1:37?
In the 1500 he would run 3:22, right?

Foster better than Viren?

Haha, thanks for the laugh.

And yes, I know, Foster beat Viren in Rome.

Foster expressed huge admiration for what Viren did in Montreal. Go read his book.

Please try reading the words written @newaccountsingeyourwebsitesuck, Mr Foster makes it abundantly clear he is talking about British athletes.