Sir Mo Farah
Gold winning track athlete and campaigner
EPC athlete, 2001-2011
Britain’s most successful Olympic track athlete and campaigner against modern slavery and human trafficking, Sir Mo Farah, has won four Olympic Gold medals and was the first British man to win two Olympic track and field titles at the same Games since 1924.
Outside of running, Sir Mo is involved in various charities and launched the Mo Farah Foundation in 2011. In 2017, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to sport. His BBC documentary ‘The Real Mo Farah’ aired in 2022, which shares his personal story of human trafficking.
“I really appreciated the welcoming environment of St Mary's, where you know everyone. I definitely grew in confidence.”
Where it all began
Sir Mo lived, studied, and trained at St Mary’s from 2001-2011. He was one of the founding Endurance Performance Centre (EPC) athletes at the University, being awarded a scholarship to the Centre in 2001.
During his ten years at St Mary’s, Mo shares that he particularly loved just running around the track and letting go his thoughts. He adds that it was great to be a part of the University community and was keen to get involved in everything.
After training at the University for ten years, Mo moved to America in 2011. Reflecting on this move, Mo shares that while St Mary’s would always be home for him, he was excited to try training in a new setting.
What he missed most about St Mary’s though was the freedom to just be able to run around the track and then go to the canteen.
“St Mary’s is London. It’s home. It’s where I grew up.”
Sir Mo Farah talks about his time at St Mary's.
In his career, Mo is widely considered one of the greatest runners of all time and is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history.
He has competed at three Olympic Games, winning a historic double-double of Gold medals at both London 2012 and Rio 2016 in the 5000m and 10,000m events.
Mo has won 19 track gold medals across all events, and retired from competitive running in 2023 with a final appearance at the Great North Run.
“If it wasn’t for the scholarship and the recognition of St Mary's, I don't know if I ever would have gone as far as I have in my career.”
In 2022 the BBC documentary ‘The Real Mo Farah’ came out, in which Mo shared that his birth identity was actually Hussein Abdi Kahin and that he was born in Mogadishu, Somalia. Mo was trafficked to the UK when he was eight, and was then given the name of another child, Mohammed Farah, and forced to work as a domestic servant.
Following his decision to reveal his story, Mo began campaigning against human trafficking and modern slavery. In 2023, Mo became a Patron of the Bakhita Centre for Research on Slavery, Exploitation and Abuse at St Mary’s University.
In 2017, the athletics track at St Mary’s was renamed the ‘Sir Mo Farah Athletics Track’, with Mo returning to the University for the official naming ceremony.
Reflecting on how St Mary’s has helped him get to where he is now, Mo shares that the support St Mary’s has given him both on and off the track has been instrumental. He also adds that without being awarded the EPC scholarship in the first place, none of this might have happened.
For Mo, St Mary’s was where it all started.
“To name the track after me is pretty amazing. It's something that means a lot to me as this is home for me.”
