I am ambivalent about Mo.
I have been watching him since as a junior he competed at places like Bedford.
Sure he is a good athlete, but my view top athletes need to be more than that, they need to be role models and statesmen for the sport. Take bolt, gebreselassie or jess ennis
But that spat with Andy Vernon, showed Mo up as a lesser person than any of the above.
Mo should recognise and accept:
Above all , the top athletes are blessed with the best Genes, and most athletic ability (even the ability to absorb heavy training , so even trainability is shown up as genetic), read the "sports Gene". Colin Jackson was somewhat miffed when he discovered that his superfast twitch fibres were an extreme rarity, and that it wasnt all just training!
Not all are blessed with the same genes, and many athletes are predestined to never quite make it. To put in all the same effort, not getting the same results. They do not deserve Contempt from Mo for not being as good as him.
So when Andy Vernon (who is a true athletics fan and good, but never in the same league as Mo) said AND RIGHTLY SO - of a race in Birmingham that was such a mismatch that Mo jogged to a win. Vernon said the "mo Show" was unnattractive to watch as a fan, that "Mo should race against better competition" to make it more of a race.
Mo turned on him. And called him a disgrace, useless, second rate and all the rest.
Mo clearly not recognising how fortunate he is to blessed, indeed how unattractive a walkover iis to fans.
That day , I lost interest in Mo.
Gebresellassie - more recently such as Bolt would never have dreamed of making such a disparaging remark about any other athlete - such as vernon , for saying what genuine fans think!
I would also point out to Mo and others wowed by Mo.
That whilst you can only beat those in the race on the day, and Chapeau to Mo for that.
His times are not in the same league as Gebresellasie and Bekele and such as Tergat. And Mo would probably not have won gold medals in their era, nor the extremely fast golden league races back then. Indeed Mo would have struggled to compete with athletes that came in behind Haile whose names are forgotten because they did not win Gold but still ran faster than Mo!
In short his lack of humility and gratitude disappoints me.
The statesmen of sport also show some humility!
The four-time Olympic champion was honoured by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace today for his services to athletics.
On the news of the knighthood Sir Mo Farah , who came to the UK from Somalia as a boy, said: "I'm so happy to be awarded this incredible honour from the country that has been my home since I moved here at the age of eight."
He has won the hearts of millions , not only for his brilliant athletics , but he is so effervescent . He bubbles over with joy . The country is a better place for his presence here .
Arise, Sir Mohamed BBC report
