Who called him a great American hero? He's a 1:44 800m runner who took a real shot at the 1500m and ran low 3:30s, which any number of other similar 800m runners have done in the past. Mo at 28 all of a sudden dropped his times markedly all across the board to the point that he won gold/silver in 2011, gold/gold in 2012 (beating a passel of sub-12:50 runners easily), gold/gold in 2013, gold/gold in 2015, gold/gold in 2016, and gold/silver in 2017. That is an unparalleled championship record on the men's side. By the end, he was 34, and that's if his age is accurate. Given his stories about how he came to the UK in the first place, you have to wonder.
He ran 3:34 in 2009 at 26 (3:33.98), then four years later ran 3:28.81 at 30 and 3:28.93 at 33 in 2015! This was pre-super shoes. He dropped 12 seconds off of his 5000m time in 2010 at 27, then another 4 seconds at 28, but more importantly, he crushed 12:46 guys. During these years he lied about any contact with Jama Aden, when in fact he trained with him in Sabadell. He also missed tests, claiming he couldn't hear the doorbell. And he trained with Mr. Grey-Line.