Team St Mary's Updates 12th-21st August

Mo Farah Wins Double Double Alumnus of St Mary’s  Mo Farah has achieved a record breaking double-double of distance Olympic Gold Medals after winning the Men’s 5000m race at Rio 2016 on Sunday 21^st August. Mo is now the first British athlete to not only retain a long distance Olympic title, but is also the first to achieve both the 5000m and 10,000m Men’s Olympic titles in consecutive games. He secured the 5000m Gold after a strong race in a time of 13:03.30, half a second ahead of Silver and a second of Bronze. His 10,000m race on Sunday 14^th was more dramatic as he tripped with laps to go. Mo recovered and went on to secure victory with a sprint finish in a time of 27:05.17. Grice Finishes Twelfth in 1500m Final   EPACC athlete and recent St Mary’s graduate Charlie Grice finished in 12th place in the 1500m Olympic Final. The 22-year-old finished fifth in his semi-final contest, ahead of the final which saw Matt Centrowitz take gold, having beaten off competition from Algerian runner Taoufik Makhloufi to secure first place. Grice Heading to Olympic 1500m Final Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) athlete from St Mary’s University, Twickenham, Charlie Grice, has secured his place in the Olympic Final of the men’s 1500m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Charlie took fifth place in the first semi-final of the men’s 1500m. A recent Sport Science graduate of St Mary’s, Charlie completed the semi-finals in 3:40:05, just over a quarter of a second behind the Kenyan Asbel Kiprop, who won the race in 3:39:73. Boxing Bronze for Buatsi Student at St Mary’s, Joshua Buatsi finished his first Olympic Games with a fantastic Bronze Medal in the Men’s Light-Heavyweight Boxing. In a tight final, Joshua just missed out on a place in the final by one point as London 2012 Silver Medallist Adilbek Niyazymbetov won 29-28 across the three rounds. Joshua’s Bronze Medal saw Team GB secure its medal target of 48, with four days of competition to go. EPACC Athlete Runs in Men’s 3000m Steeplechase EPACC Athlete Rob Mullett competed in the Men’s Steeplechase at the Rio Olympics. He completed the course in a time of 8:48.19, placing him in 36^th in the Heats which was unfortunately not enough to qualify for the finals. St Mary's Student Buatsi Guaranteed Boxing Bronze in Rio Student at St Mary’s University, Twickenham Joshua Buatsi has made it to the Semi-finals of with Men’s Light-Heavyweight Boxing at Rio 2016 with a guaranteed Bronze medal. Joshua faced Algerian boxer Abdelhafic Benchabla, ranked fourth in the world, in his quarterfinal, defeating him comfortably in a points victory across the three rounds. Following a successful start to the tournament, scoring the first technical knockout of the Games in his first bout and defeating the third seed by knockout in his second bout, Joshua heads into the semi-finals against Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Niyazymbetov on Tuesday 16^th August at 10.45pm in good form. Director of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, “Joshua is having a wonderful Olympic Games. Against far more experienced opponents he has dominated his fights and will be the first of the GB boxers to win a medal. Having made the semis with two stoppage wins and a win by a considerable margin, there's no doubt that Joshua will be going all out to win Gold.” St Mary’s Alumnus Wins Gold and Breaks Olympic Record Alumnus of St Mary’s University, Twickenham, Mo Farah has won the Gold medal in the Men’s 10,000m and broke a Team GB record by becoming the first athlete to win three Track and Field Gold Medals. Mo, who has already completed a history triple double of Gold Medals at the World Championships, completed the men’s 10,000m on Sunday morning in a sprint finish in a time of 27:05.17 to defend his Olympic title. He put in a strong performance throughout the race, despite tripping with 10 laps to go. He now looks ahead to competing in the heats of the Men’s 5000m on Wednesday. Director of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, “Even after being tripped Mo was able to compose himself and retain his Olympic 10,000m title to become the first British athlete to win three Gold medals on the track. Mo has now remained unbeaten in the 10,000m for five years at major competitions and If he wins the 5000m he’ll become the first person since Lasse Viren to retain two Olympic distance titles.” St Mary’s Alumna Wins Record Breaking Silver Medal at Rio 2016 Alumna of St Mary’s University, Twickenham Karen Bennett has won a Silver Medal as part of the Women’s Eight crew in the rowing at Rio 2016. The crew are the first to win a medal in the Women’s Eight competition for Team GB. They secured their medal in a photo finish, 0.12 second ahead of third placed Romania in a time of 6:03.98. Director of Sport Andrew Reid-Smith said, “It's an incredible achievement to have won a silver medal at your first Games and everyone at St Mary's is so pleased for Karen. This was another GB rowing performance that was full of conviction and is the first time a GB Women's Eight have won an Olympic medal.” EPACC Athlete Compete In Women’s Steeplechase EPACC Athlete Lennie Waite made a valiant effort in the first heat of the Women’s 3000m Steeplechase. Despite having placed second at the World Indoor Championships in March, Lennie failed to progress to the Olympic final, finishing the event in 10:14.18, in a round which saw Ruth Jebet of Bahrain, the fastest woman in this event so far this year, win in an incredible 9:12.62.