World Athletic Champion Success for Athletes

A year on from the London 2012 Olympic Games, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham is congratulating alumni Andrew Osagie and Mo Farah on their success at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow this week. The competition saw former student and Endurance and Performance Coaching Centre (EPACC) athlete Mo Farah become one of the greatest British distance athletes on record after winning both the 5,000m and 10,000m events, just a year on from taking the double at the Olympics last year. Mo is now one of only two men to take the title, after Ethiopian runner Kenensia Beleke won the double at both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, putting him firmly in the history books. Current EPACC athlete and Olympic Finalist Andrew Osagie also performed well after running a season’s best in the 800m final, almost a year to the day since he competed on home ground at the London Games. Finishing in fifth position, he crossed the finish line in 1:44.36. Andrew Reid-Smith, Director of Sport at St Mary's said, "As only the second athlete in history to be Olympic and world champion in the 5,000m and 10,000m Mo has proved himself to be one of the best distance runners ever. What he's already achieved is absolutely fantastic and with his marathon debut next year there are more exciting challenges ahead." "Andrew has now performed well in both an Olympic and a World Champs final. This year due to injury he had to miss out on the world trials but at the World Champs he produced season best runs to show yet again that he always runs well at the major championships." St Mary’s also saw current EPACC athlete Alex Wright compete in the 20km race walk and Roseanne Galligan in the women’s 800m, whilst former student Harry Aikines-Aryeetey ran in the 100m semi-finals.