Mo Farah after crossing the finish line at the Antrim Coast Half Marathon 2020
(Picture: PA)Mo Farah is a household name.
After securing his first Olympic gold medal during the London 2012 games, the long-distance runner won the heart’s of the nation. He now has 10 global championship gold medals - making him the most successful male 5000m and 10,000m track runner in history.
His sporting legendary and British national treasure status secured him a CBE in 2013 and a knighthood in 2017 for services to athletics.
In order to hold such titles, we can bet that his training regime is relentless to say the least. It’s no surprise then that Mo Farah has been announced as a brand ambassador for Huawei’s new smartwatch, the GT3 Pro (read our review here). Boasting a whole host of fitness features including an intelligent running planning feature that helps you create personalised training plans, this watch is designed with fitness fanatics in mind.
We caught up with him at the House of Huawei smartwatch launch event to talk more about his flourishing partnership with Huawei and his other Favourite Things.
What are you up to at the moment?
During lockdown it was easy to neglect training at times and take too many days off, so at the moment I'm at home prioritising the building up my training again, working towards bigger and better goals than ever before.
What are your training essentials?
My training essential is a smartwatch. Without something to collect and track data, I can’t improve on my performance. A smartwatch is great because it’s lightweight, easy to wear and can analyse everything from how fast I ran to my heart rate to recommending what I could have done better.
What are your favourite sportswear brands?
When you’re an athlete, it’s important you look and feel good and for me feeling good is all about having the latest gear. It’s also about finding clothes and accessories that are fitness focused but also fashionable which is why I really like my GT3 Pro because it’s as stylish as it is practical. What a man also needs is a nice pair of shoes and nothing rivals my Jordan trainers when it comes to comfort, style and practicality.
What are your desert island must haves?
Obviously I'd choose my family to camp out on a desert island with me, but if it had to be an item, I'd probably choose my watch - it would allow me to keep training even if I was stranded! I might consider taking my PlayStation too as I'd definitely be able to pass the time with that. Otherwise I would pick an endless supply of sticky toffee pudding. - my favourite.
What are your favourite fashion brands?
Believe it or not, when I’m off the track I like to look good and I'm a sucker for a nice suit. It’s too hard to pick a particular favourite fashion brand - it’s usually whatever takes my fancy on the day and most importantly, what makes me feel good about myself.
What is your advice to any budding athletes?
My main advice to athletes is to believe in yourself and have confidence that you can achieve your goals. Then of course it’s about working hard and planning out an achievable training programme. The more information on your performance you can gather, the better chances you have at improving on it.
What inspired you to team up with Huawei?
When I’m training, it’s really important that I build up a wealth of data and the GT3 Pro watch is the perfect device for me as it gives me all of the monitoring tools I need to accurately track my runs, but also gives me insight into my sleep, heart-rate and daily activity. The watch also looks as great on the outside as I know Huawei devices are on the inside.
