The former Victorian governor lauded Dr Lincoln who was farewelled at a funeral at Melbourne University's Trinity College Chapel after dying aged 82 on May 1.

“I remember him as a very humble person,” Mr Landy said of his fellow mile runner and Olympian.

“He was a very cheerful positive person, despite any frustrations he had in running against the greatest 1500-metre runner in the world (Herb Elliott).

“I believe with his passing we are losing an ornament to our sport.”

Mr Elliott did not attend the funeral but a tribute from the 1960 1500-metre Olympic champion was read to mourners.

“Merv was gentle and polite, well-mannered and considerate, but tough enough to drive himself to the full extent of his physical limits,” Mr Elliott wrote.

“Of all my competitors he was the best.”

Mr Landy recalled how the unconquerable Mr Elliott’s closest shave with defeat came when Dr Lincoln appeared to deadheat with him before the judges ruled in the West Australian's favour.

“People in Albury-Wodonga certainly recognised Merv for what he was – a great athlete,” Mr Landy said.

He said the naming of the road between Albury and Wodonga as the Lincoln Causeway, in honour of his friend, was special.

“Many of us had something named after us, but none of us had something so important as a major highway,” Mr Landy said.

Mourners heard how Dr Lincoln flourished in the world of business and academia after his running days, but relatives noted the former Wodonga student did not lose his sporting drive.

Son-in-law Adrian McClure told of a family visit to Wodonga in 1980, when Dr Lincoln was in his late 40s.

Accepting Dr Lincoln's invite to run over Wodonga's old golf course, Mr McClure knew he was in trouble three minutes into what he thought would be a jog.

“It was at that moment I thought, ‘you're bloody unbelievable, you're running with a machine’,” Mr McClure said.

He was eventually cooked as Dr Lincoln ran back to his parents' Batt Avenue home.

Daughter Debbie McClure told of trying to make her father proud through her performances at Little Athletics.

“Third was my best effort, I had let him down,” she said. “Dad would say ‘you can only do your best and just remember the winner never quits and the quitter never wins’.”

It was one of many adages of Dr Lincoln with son Tim saying others were “good as gold, never better”, “fit as a fiddle” and “get out of bed boys, there's a big wide world out there waiting for you”.

Oldest son Tony Lincoln said “it hit home my dad was a legend” when he joined him for the recording of television show World of Sport.

He would marvel that his father, who had an athletics segment, was mixing with names such as Miller, Boyle, Laver, Stackpole, Dyer and O'Toole.

Dr Lincoln's coffin, draped by the Olympic flag, was taken from the chapel to the music from Chariots of Fire.

A 1929 hearse took Dr Lincoln on a last run around the university track with his grandchildren holding a ribbon at the finish line.