Farah (pictured above) won the 5000m and 10,000m gold at London 2012, but has made it clear he intends to step up a distance to 26.2 miles.

Salazar said that Farah could bid to become only the second man in history to win gold in both the marathon and the 10,000m at the same Games.

"My guess is he will do a 10-marathon double," Salazar was quoted as saying in the Daily Mirror.

"At Rio, that would be a good shot.

"We will have to look at the schedule, but if the 10,000m is first, he would go for that and the marathon."

Emil Zátopek won the double at the Helsinki Games in 1952, when the Czech great also won gold in the 5000m, but Salazar admits Farah's feat would exceed that of Zátopek, saying: "It would be so much tougher now".

Mo Farah (right) with his coach Alberto Salazar (centre) and silver medalist Galen Rupp (left) of the United States after winning his London 2012 gold medal in the men's 10,000m

Many had expected Farah to make his marathon debut next year, but Salazar revealed that the double Olympic champion would continue to focus on the track, with the 2014 London Marathon a likely target.

"The way we look at it is pretty simple: he's the best long-distance runner on the track in the world right now," he said.

"He has the World Championships next year.

"We know he can be very good at marathon, but we don't know if he can be the best in the world – it's a different event.

"The only time it makes sense is that he could run the worlds in Moscow next summer and then do the London Marathon in April 2014.

"There is no Worlds or Olympics in 2014, so he could run London and then still perhaps have a late track season in August."

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