The Tears Of Mo Farah's Former PE Teacher

While 80,000 people in the London Olympic stadium held their breath, wondering if Mo Farah could become the first Brit to ever win gold in the 10,000m, one man had no doubt.

Alan Watkinson, Farah's PE teacher and the man he credits with turning his life around, knew he'd be a champion from the age of 11.

"He was a lively kid," Alan recalls with a wry smile. "He was swinging from the goalposts and doing all sorts of crazy things in lessons but he loved PE. He loved sport, he loved to be active and that was something that needed to be harnessed."

Farah came to south west London at the age of eight, an asylum seeker from Somalia.

In a mainly white school he stood out and the language barrier didn't help matters.

He fell behind in lessons and started to get into scrapes, but Alan spotted Mo's talent and persuaded him to try athletics.

Back then, Mo was more interested in football than running, and Alan had to resort to bribes to motivate him to win competitions.

"I said if you win the English Schools (he had come ninth the year before) I'll buy you a football kit. And he did win the English Schools.

"So before the Olympic final yesterday, I sent him a text message saying ‘If you win I'll buy you a football kit’.

"He hasn't sent me a text back yet so hopefully he won't expect it!"

Far from being just another teacher in Mo's past, Alan has stayed close friends with the long distance runner, even standing as his best man at his wedding.

Watching his protege cross the line in the Olympic Stadium was an experience Alan says he will cherish.

"I was jumping up and down and screaming. The people next to me must have thought who's this guy? What's he doing?

"It was just a remarkable feeling. From knowing him 17, 18 years ago and seeing him develop from that youth who had a few troubles at school but who was charming and good humoured ... to see him go from that to the stadium in London was just … you couldn't make it up.

"Tears were rolling down my cheeks, I don't think I even saw him go across the finish line I was so emotional."

He’s gone from a mischievous child to an Olympic champion, but Mo Farah can't relax yet - he's scheduled to compete in the 5,000m final next week.