Mo Farah's New Route To Gold

It was Brendan who, in 1974, threw in a 60.4 second eighth lap to crack the opposition in the 5000m at the European Championships. We want to spot any such developments as soon as possible.

In Birmingham, Farah and Rupp gave them a taste of their own medicine. On the last lap, Imane Merga and Yenew Alamirew pulled well clear of everyone else in the race but were themselves left trailing by the Briton and American.

Yes, Olympic and world champion and world record-holder Kenenisa Bekele was not there, nor were any Kenyans who are preparing for their championships this weekend. But Merga was the world number one over 5000m last year and is the reigning world cross-country champion. Farah has defeated him twice this year.

Looking at my timing chart of the closing stages, I could not help noticing parallels between the Mo's victory and that of Bekele in the last Olympic Games and World Championships.

It does seem that Alberto Salazar - the coach of Farah and Rupp - has equipped his athletes with similar weaponry to that which was deployed in those races: not a mid-race break or a furious sprint during the last lap, but a sustained finishing surge involving a final mile of around four minutes, with progressively faster laps.

We cannot yet say that Mo is in the same class as Bekele, but when the Ethiopian legend returns to racing he may find that there are more men ready to take him on at his own game.