The bottom line is that however he does it, he gets from the start line to the finish line faster than anyone else in the race. I believe that is what is knowing as "winning". He doesn't get a piggy back on Galen Rupp's shoulders, he doesn't grab the Segway from the cameraman and ride that instead of running. He runs the same distance as everyone else, and (since London 2012) he's done that smarter than anyone else, consistently.
If any of his rivals (and perhaps Kamworor is the one) wants to head out at 26:20 pace, let them. The last time anyone (anyone, this isn't just Mo) ran sub 26:40 was in 2006. In this current decade, only Bekele (2011), Rotich (2011) and Rupp (2014) have run faster than Mo (2011). If someone can run low 26:30s and destroy Mo, they'll deserve the title and the plaudits.
But there's no guarantee anybody will achieve that. No-one has shown the slightest hint of being in that good form, perhaps with the exception of Kamworor who *may* be able to time trial himself from the front perhaps with some teammate assistance.
But it's of no consequence - if GK does that, if Mo sticks on the back of that fast group and then Mo still comes across the line first, he'll still be derided as "not as good as Bekele", as someone who's late development can only be explained by PEDs in the NOP stable, as someone that enough LR posters seem to want to hate. And if GK wins that? He'll be a hero, without the hate that Mo seems to get. Not quite sure why...