Mo Farah, 10,000m world champion: Britain's greatest distance runner allowed the words to roll off his tongue and smiled. He has waited nearly two years to be able to say that, ever since the Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan shocked him in a sprint for the line in Daegu in 2011. Now he wanted to cherish it. Relish it.

And how appropriate that it was Jeilan again who was his greatest challenger in Moscow, bobbing and weaving on his shoulder, threatening the most painful case of deja vu. Only this time it was Farah who was stronger in a thrilling sprint finish.

It was a close run thing: Farah kept looking back in the final 100m, as if fearing the bogeyman was going to get him before shouting: "Yes! Yes! Yes!" just before he crossed the line. It was a raucous uplifting of the volume on a night where the half-empty stadium was mostly mute. Afterwards he lay flat on his back, arms behind his head, as if to catch the final rays of the evening sun – as well as to bask in a job well done.

"I had the experience from a couple of years ago and I saw Jeilan coming at the bell and I didn't want to lose again," said Farah, who won in 27min 21:71sec, with Jeilan second in 27:22.23 and Paul Tanui third in 27:22.41. Galen Rupp, Farah's training partner and the silver medallist at last year's Olympics, was fourth in 27.24.39.

"To be honest with you, with the last lap I could see he was there and I was thinking: 'God, I've got to make this lap worth it,'" Farah said. "At 200m again, I could see him trying down the right side. I was thinking on the home straight: 'Not again, not again, not again.' But I just had that little more."

Farah dedicated his victory to his three daughters, whom he missed while he trained at altitude in France. "I've been away from them so much, like four months at a time, in and out," he said. "Parents will understand that, but the twins don't recognise me. They see me as a stranger. I remember being in London and trying to hug them, trying to play with them and they step away and start crying.

"I think that makes it more worth it and for me it was nice to win this race and dedicated it to them and my seven-year old. She understands what Daddy has to do but the twins don't quite understand so when I cross that line it was definitely worth everything I've gone through."

By winning a double gold at London 2012 Farah entered the pantheon; now he can rightly demand a seat at the top table of distance history, alongside those great Ethiopians Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, and legends of an older vintage such as Paavo Nurmi, Emil Zatopek and Lasse Viren.

Farah has also won more golds at world championships and Olympics than any other British athlete. Daley Thompson and Jonathan Edwards have three. Sebastian Coe, Linford Christie and Colin Jackson are among those who have two. Only Farah has four.

Almost a year to the day, Farah won 5,000m Olympic gold in front of 80,000 people. This time round it was barely a quarter of that, even though a ticket in excellent seats for all 15 world championship sessions costs only 6,000 roubles (£118) – less than many would have paid to watch Farah win gold in London in the 5,000m.

Farah started slowly, allowing himself to be dead last for the opening two laps, 30m behind the leaders. He later explained that he wanted to start slowly because he had not warmed up much because of the heat. But it was almost as if Farah was also daring his rivals: if you think you can beat me, go now. Let's see what you're made of.

"The reason I went to the back was because I knew the Kenyan boys would take out the pace," he said. "I was trying to save as much energy as I can, go at the back. I remember thinking the first 5km I believe it was 13:45, it was a bit slow so it was the perfect race for me."

Earlier in the day, during the women's marathon, the athletes had been sprayed with water to cool them down. There was no such luck for the men's 10,000m. The heat and the humidity was such that it was like trying to run in a greenhouse.

As the laps counted down the chances of Farah winning gold merely grew. With eight laps to go there was still 25 men within 20 metres of each other. Even with just under four laps left there were still a dozen athletes with chances. The main danger for Farah seemed to be being tripped by the Kenyans and Ethiopians around him. "I nearly went down a couple of times but thank God I didn't and I just managed to cover every move," he said. "It was important that it was me and Galen working together."

It was now a 1500m race and Farah had advertised his strength over that distance by running 3min 28sec in Monaco last month. After talking to Rupp, the pair decided to go with 1,000m to go. But as Rupp slipped back, Farah powered on to gold and glory.

Farah has another chance to embrace history. Only one athlete – Bekele – has followed an Olympic double in the men's 5,000m and 10,000m with world championship golds a year later. The heats of the men's 5,000m start on Tuesday morning, with the final on Friday evening. That will be Farah's target now.

He has surely reached the zenith of his career: at the moment defeat seems an loose, abstract concept, something that does not apply to him any more. Just as importantly, his competitors do not seem to think they can beat him either.