They ganged up on him, asked him repeated questions and in the final lap twice tripped him, but a formidable group of East African runners were still unable to deny Mo Farah his moment in London’s Olympic Stadium last night.

On the opening night there had been time for Usain Bolt, the other main man of these World Championships to very publicly register disappointment with his performance in the first round of the 100 metres, shaking his head vigorously after he crossed the line in 10.07 seconds.

With three rounds of running it was, of course, still quick enough to win after he had dragged himself out of the blocks. No such luxury was available to his fellow multi-Olympic and world champion who is similarly using this event as a farewell to the track.

For Mo Farah there were no heats or semi-finals in the 10,000 metres that he has dominated in major championships for the past six years. He had to hit the ground running at his best or something approaching it and if world records have eluded him the 34-year-old once again proved himself to be one of the greatest big race performers of all time as he fended off the attentions of of teams of Ugandans, Ethiopians and Kenyans, somehow managing to stay on his feet when twice badly clipped on the final lap by Paul Kipngetich Tanui.

“I just didn’t want to go down because I didn’t wannt to let these people down,” he said after finishing in 26 minutes 49.51 seconds - the world’s best time this year - after finally pulling unstoppably clear in the final home straight.

The response of the capacity crowd ensured that for all the controversy that has surrounded him and, more particularly, his coach Alberto Salazar in recent years, the vast majority of British athletics devotees adore Farah and he made it clear that he reciprocates.

“The crowd was incredible. I love you all,” he told them during his lap of honour.

“I want to thank all the people for their support.”

As to the tactics he had to endure he confined himself to saying: “It’s been hard but I’m mentally strong I guess.”

Not that this will be the end for the 34-year-old by any means since even once this week’s 5000 metres has taken place and his track career ends following a couple of subsequent Diamond League meetings, we expect to see much more from Farah in his bid to demonstrate comparable versatility to some of his greatest rivals by performing well in major marathons. Notably Kenenisa Bekele, who has a comparable Olympic and world championship record, but also remains the world record holder at both 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, threw down something of a challenge earlier this year when, asked about the comparison between their achievements, he observed that Farah needs to do better in a marathon than an eighth placed finish.

That would suggest that what has been Andy Butchart’s problem for the past two seasons, namely operating in Farah’s shadow, will now become that of his Scottish rival Callum Hawkins. There is a difference, though, in that whereas Butchart’s Olympic breakthrough came in direct opposition to Farah the Kilbarchan man has established him in direct comparison with Britain’s greatest ever distance runner, Hawkins seized his chance to establish himself as Britain’s marathon number one in Rio.

Where it would have been folly for Butchart to show anything other than the deference he has to his British team-mate in expressing his admiration, competing in the longer discipline has, in turn, allowed Hawkins to impose himself in a different way. He did so memorably when leading the pack at an advanced stage of the race on his way to a top 10 finish at the Olympics and, perhaps more relevantly, when leaving Farah among those floundering in the Holyrood mud at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country International in January.

The arrival of such a marketable figure in the marathon could consequently come at the ideal time for Hawkins since there are already claims that just as he was on his two previous appearances – he ran only the first half of it in 2013 - Farah is set to be offered six figure sums to run the London Marathon again in each of the next two years.

Tomorrow’s race will probably come a bit too soon in these terms, since 25 is very young for a marathon runner and he remains deeply inexperienced in the event, but these World Championships represent a chance for Hawkins to give himself some bargaining power in such negotiations since it is one event in which Farah has yet to prove himself the best of British before he starts looking further afield.

That, though, is for the future. Right now Mo Farah is the most instantly recognisable British athlete at these Championships and he is halfway towards his target of finishing his championship track career by becoming the first athlete to win a 5000m and 10,000m double at five successive global gatherings.