Legendary long-distance runner Sir Mo Farah believes athletics has been on the rise in India and the country's self-development and infusion of youth in the sport has the "power to bring about change in many things" in future.

Farah, one of the greatest long-distance runners of all time with four Olympics medals and six World Championship titles, praised India's self-development which he said has been a reward for the country's hard work.

"It's amazing to see the country's self-development, (the) younger athletes and anything is possible in life if you work hard and graft, and certainly India has as well," Farah, brand ambassador for the 20th edition of the Tata Mumbai Marathon, told PTI in an exclusive interaction here on Friday.

"You know it's (athletics in India) growing, the sport is growing. It might not necessarily be the number one sport, but it's growing.

"I remember being in India for the Commonwealth Games and other championships. It's just nice to see younger (athletes) and I believe that power in sports can change many things," he added.

Farah, who grabbed gold medals in 5,000m and 10,000m events in the 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Games, said he is ready to don the administrative hat in his bid to give it back to the sport.

"Yeah for sure, running has always been in my DNA. For me, I've accomplished so many things all along my career," he said.

"If I can give back to the younger generation, younger people, inspire people, in all people, women, girls, everyone, it's (going to be) amazing to see that because I had role models growing up and I had certain people who inspired me," he said.

Farah welcomed World Athletics' decision to give prize money to Olympics' gold medal winning athletes, a move which was criticised by some federations.

"These athletes work so hard and again, if Lionel Messi is on this amount of money a week, what's (in) athletics?" he said.

"(Also in case of Cristiano) Ronaldo, you see all these things, but again, we need to create, we need to have that special event and if there were to be more, then (it is) great," he said.

The 41-year-old former British runner also welcomed the idea of having the World Athletics Ultimate Championship saying an event like running can involve more athletes.

"It's good, the more championships, the more events, the more marathon(s) we can have, Mumbai, other places all around the world," he said.

"(It is) amazing because running is one of the simplest things where everybody can get involved, no matter who you are, you just take a step forward and putting in that miles," he said.

The highly-accomplished Farah said he would not want to put himself in the top echelons of greatest runners ever.

"After me? I wouldn't put myself there but listen, we've had great ambassadors over the years, great runners, (and) role models," he said.

"Lasse Viren, you name it... (Kenenisa) Bekele, Paul Tergat, Noah Ngeny, Benjamin Limo and that's in distance. I've always loved watching younger athletes coming along, particularly in (the) UK, Keeley Hodgkinson and other great athletes... Jake Wightman, we all have our athletes," he added.

Farah said he has no qualms with legendary Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt hogging the limelight during their heyday.

"Not at all, listen, if he took any limelight, he more than deserves it, he's a great athlete, he's a great champion, he's the fastest man in the world," he said.

"For me, I'm just grateful that we've had that journey along the way and we know each other personally as well. He competing for his country and we needed him and everything he got, he more than deserved (it)," Farah said.

He said belief in athletes and young talent should be emphasised more while continuing to make efforts to prevent doping in sports.

"I think we (should) just continue to make effort, keep doing what we can. Sometimes, these things do happen in all the sports, not just in athletics; football, rugby, they'll always be there, but don't let that overkill the sports," he said.

"We have to continue to go in and keep believing in (the) athletes, keep supporting younger athletes, younger generations, keep educating them and continue to thrive and continue to make changes," he added.

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