Mo Farah can become greatest ever marathon runner – just like Eliud Kipchoge, says coach Gary Lough

Mo Farah has the potential to become one of the world’s finest marathon runners and compete for medals against the mighty Eliud Kipchoge within the next two years, his coach has said.

Gary Lough, who started working with Farah after the he had retired from the track last year, believes that the Briton can reach a “similar level” to Kipchoge, the man who many believe to be the greatest marathon runner of all time.

Farah displayed his credentials over the longer distance with an impressive performance in Sunday’s London Marathon, when he finished third in the scorching London heat and smashed Steve Jones’s 33-year-old British record.

Under the guidance of Lough, who coached his wife Paula Radcliffe to the marathon world record in 2003, Farah will gear his efforts towards success at next year’s world championships in Doha before a likely attempt at the marathon title at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The current Olympic champion is the peerless Kipchoge, who this weekend won the London Marathon for the third time.

“Eliud is the best marathon runner ever,” Lough said. “I think Mo can get to a similar level and I think if you put him into a championship environment, like next year in Doha or certainly 2020 in Tokyo, I definitely think Mo Farah should be someone who people have got major concerns about.”

Farah is more suited to running in a championship as the absence of pacemakers generally creates a slower, more tactical race. Farah’s excellent track career, in which he won 10 world and Olympic titles, was largely a result of his tactical awareness and ability to manage races, rather than raw speed.

The 35-year-old’s performance this weekend was a demonstration of how much he has invested in the marathon since his retirement from the track last year.

There were doubts when he first made the move over his motivations for focusing on the longer distance, but Lough said he could see “real desire” in Farah from the moment they first discussed working together.

“When we sat down one of my questions was trying to figure out Mo’s motivation,” Lough said. “If it was just ticking boxes, or to do it because it was expected of him, I was not really sure it was the thing for me.

“But I could see the real desire. He wants to be the best that he can be and I think the best that he can be is going to be one of the best in the world.”