Farah, who becomes one of only six men to have ever achieved the iconic double at the same Games, has achieved legendary status with the help of two universities.

When in the UK, he trains at the institution at which he used to study - St. Mary's University College. Their Head of 2012 preparations, Dick Fisher, described Farah as a 'lovely young man with no airs or graces' after his win in the 10,000m.

Another institution that can claim to have played a part in Farah's incredible success is Loughborough University, where a training device used by Farah and his team-mates was developed.

The innovative device - called RespiBelt - fits around the lower chest and ribcage to provide a training load to the breathing muscles as the chest expands during breathing.

It has been used by Farah, his training partner and 10,000m silver medallist Galen Rupp and their team-mates, under the guidance of world-leading coach Alberto Salazar.

Ross Weir is co-founder and Innovation Director at Progressive Technologies, a spin-off company from Loughborough University Sports Technology Institute, which developed the device. 

He explains: "RespiBelt acts like a dumbbell for the breathing muscles, loading them without restricting the ribcage. Improved breathing muscle efficency means more oxygen reaches the exercising muscles leading to increased strength, power and endurance.

"Athletes can adjust the belt to vary the intensity; pulled tighter for a higher load brings strength and power gains while exercising at a lower load for longer benefits endurance events, such as the 10,000m."

The device has been developed for over a decade at Loughborough, and has been tested on campus by elite athletes, including members of the British triathlon team.

Professor Mike Caine, co-founder of Progressive Sports Technologies, adds: "The benefits of training the breathing muscles have been well researched and validated.

"Building on the extensive research supporting the use of mouth-held inspiratory muscle training devices, we explored whether similar results could be achieved using RespiBelt. Results have been really encouraging and we are excited that a wide range of sports are starting to adopt the product."

Of the success enjoyed by Farah in 5,000 and 10,000m finals, Professor Caine says: "It's wonderful to know that our invention has helped him train to realise his Olympic dreams."