Arise Sir Mo. How good that sounds. How right, how appropriate, how proper. And how timely.

The knighthood bestowed in the New Year’s Honours list to Mo Farah is not simply a recognition of the fact that he is a multiple bullion-bedecked champion in an era when global competition has never been more intense. It has been given, too, in acknowledgement of the joy, the pleasure, the spring in the collective step he has gifted his fellow citizens across successive Olympics and World Championships.

When his Porsche-like acceleration leaves the rest of the field panting in his wash, when his full-beam grin dazzles as he breaks the line, when he brings his fingers to his head and mimes out the letter M, how he cheers up the nation. When he runs, how we bask in the prestige he brings.