Marina Izidro
Freelance sports journalist
Sports Journalism, 2012
Freelance sports journalist Marina Izidro has worked and reported on the top sporting events in the world, including five summer and two winter Olympic Games. Having started her career in Rio de Janeiro, Marina moved to London in 2011 to get her Master’s at St Mary’s. She now has her own sports column at a leading Brazilian newspaper, and has been guest lecturing on the Sports Journalism course back at St Mary’s since 2020.
“St Mary’s helped my career in so many ways. It made me a better person.”
From Rio to London 2012
Marina completed her Master’s in Sports Journalism at St Mary’s in 2012, having already done an undergraduate degree in journalism and working as a journalist in Brazil.
As someone with a big passion for the Olympics, the opportunity to live in London in the run up to the 2012 Games while also getting her Sports Journalism degree was too good of an opportunity for Marina to miss.
She shares that she saw it as an opportunity to keep developing in her career by learning new skills as a journalist, with a particular focus on sport.
“It is the most beautiful campus in London for sure. It has such a nice atmosphere and you feel so welcomed here.”
Marina lived on campus during her time at St Mary’s, which she says allowed her to build a strong connection with the University that she still carries to this day.
She shares that the course taught her so many things; not only about sports journalism but also about things like UK law and politics. To be a good journalist, Marina adds that you have to understand the context you’re in and know how it feels and what it means to be in a certain place.
Despite being a student at the University over ten years ago now, Marina shares that she is still in close contact with her classmates and teachers.
“I loved the course and it was a wonderful experience. The quality of the lecturers and courses at St Mary’s is recognised all over the UK.”
After graduating from St Mary’s, Marina returned to Brazil to continue her career as a journalist. However, in 2017 she came back to London as a correspondent for the broadcast company she was working for.
For Marina, she says this felt like a full circle moment and was happy to be returning to a place that she also considered home.
During her career, Marina has worked some of the biggest sporting events in the world including seven Olympic games from the field, FIFA World Cups, The Euros, Wimbledon Tennis Championships, and the World Athletics Championships.
In 2020, Marina started teaching as a guest lecturer on the Sports Journalism course at St Mary’s.
“I never lost my connection with St Mary’s and it feels amazing to be teaching here. I feel really privileged to be able to help young journalists and give them the tools that they need to become good sports journalists.”
Reflecting on her time at St Mary’s, Marina shares that the University has helped her in so many ways.
On one level, she credits St Mary’s for giving her access to a different perspective of how sports journalism is done in a nation that has such an old and important tradition in the field.
On another level, moving to St Mary’s allowed Marina to broaden her horizons by seeing a different culture and different ways of working. She adds that as a journalist, having these experiences have been invaluable.
“St Mary’s made me a better person. I was able to learn new skills and have personal experiences outside of the content of the course.”
