After all, no host country has ever improved on their medal tally four years later.
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Rohler’s victory came despite a back problem that has interrupted his season.
He expected this latest challenge to be the toughest yet, braced for the Ethiopian trio of Muktar Edris, Dejen Gebremeskel and Gebrhiwet to try to tire him out early in the race in a bid to neutralise his finishing speed.
Starting at the back, the experienced runner slowly made his way up and found himself in an ideal position with two laps to go, hugging the inside of the track and with only open space ahead of him.
Farah’s Team GB team-mate Andrew Butchart finished in a personal best 13:08.61 and was eventually classified in fifth place, after originally being moved up to fourth following the disqualification of two other athletes.
“For me when I line up I’m in a tunnel, I close everything and that tunnel all you can see is just ahead you cant look beyond”, he said. I’ve never had to recover from a race before.
“When you see them cry, when you see them not eating as well, being a father and having four kids is not easy and seeing my wife struggle, that’s the hard part”.
“The guys make it tough because you are a target”.
Briton Mo Farah survived another stumble to get through to the final of the 5,000 meters and remain on course for the prized Olympic distance double-double.
Mo Farah plans to end his track career after next year’s World Championships in London – but has not ruled out running the marathon at Tokyo 2020. And, boy, will he be missed.
Britain’s Mo Farah celebrates winning the Men’s 5000m Final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 20, 2016.
Few remember now that when he went to his first Olympics in Beijing eight years ago, he failed even to reach the final, forcing him into a radical switch that took him to OR and the occasionally controversial coach Alberto Salazar. He had dedicated the pair from London 2012 to his twin daughters Aisha and Amani.
And the last member of the Farah brood has not been left out.
When asked specifically about the marathon, he said his previous attempts “hadn’t gone well – but I believe that I need to practise and run a couple of key marathons to become successful at it”. “All I used to think as a kid was, “man, if only I could have one medal” and now I’ve got four medals”.
Bronze medals also came from Taekwondo fighter Bianca Walkden, the women’s 4×400 relay team and Vicky Holland in the women’s triathlon.
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The 21-year-old had always been touted as the young pretender to Kenya’s steeplechase crown but he produced a final lap sprint that saw him grab gold in an Olympic record of 8 minutes 3.28 seconds.
