The new Lasse Viren

In the early hours of this morning, Mo Farah won the Olympic Gold in the 5,000 metres, having already triumphed in the 10,000 metres, repeating the astonishing double he achieved at London 2012. This “double double” makes Farah arguably the greatest British athlete of all time. The only other athlete to achieve the “double double” is Lasse Viren who took 5,000 and 10,000 metre golds in Munich in 1972, then again in Montreal in 1976. Viren was a policeman from a small town in Finland called Myrskyla. Apparently, in the 1970s, Myrskyla had a very low crime rate. Are you surprised? Imagine you’re a thief legging it down the street with your bag of swag. The sight of Lasse Viren chasing after you would be your worst nightmare.