Here are some facts about Mo Farah, the British Olympic athlete.
- Mo Farah was born in 1983 in Somalia, Africa.
- In 2022, he revealed in a BBC interview that he was trafficked to the UK (brought to the UK illegally) when he was 8 or 9 and forced to work as a domestic servant.
- His real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin, but he was given the fake name Mohamed Farah in order to enter the UK.
- His father was killed when Mo Farah was just four years old. He was hit by a stray bullet during the conflict in Somalia.
- Mo Farah travelled from Djibouti to the UK with a woman he had never met before. He was told he was going to be staying with relatives. But when he arrived at a flat in Hounslow, London, it was made clear to him that i he wanted to eat, he had to work.
- From the age of 12, Mo went to Feltham Community College. The staff were told he was a Somalian refugee.
- He spoke very little English when he first attended school, but he was very keen on sports.
- Mo Farah confided in his PE teacher, Mr Watkinson, about his true identity and his situation. Mr Watkinson contacted social services, and Mo Farah was fostered by another Somali family.
- Mr Watkinson also helped Mo Farah apply for British citizenship. This was granted in 2000.
I had no idea there was so many people who are going through exactly the same thing that I did. It just shows how lucky I was. What really saved me, what made me different, was that I could run.
Mo Farah in 2022
- He wanted to play for Arsenal Football Club as a right-winger.
- In 1996, Mo Farah finished ninth in the English school’s cross-country championship. He was only 13. He won the event the next year.
- In 2006, Mo ran the 5000 metres in a time of 13 minutes 9:40 seconds. This was the second-fastest time by a British athlete.
- On 19th August 2010, Farah ran the 5000 metres in 12:57:94. In doing so, he became the British record holder and the first British runner to break the 13-minute barrier.
- At the 2011 World Championships, he won two medals – Gold in the 5000 m and Silver in the 10,000 m.
- At the London Olympics in 2012, Farah won two Gold Medals. He won both the 10,000 m and 5000 m events.
- At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Mo Farah won Gold Medals in both 5000 m and 10000 m.
- He has been described by Brendan Foster as ‘Britain’s greatest ever athlete‘.
- Mo Farah celebrates his victories by doing the ‘Mobot’ (a move devised by Clare Balding and James Corden during Mo’s appearance on the TV show A League of Their Own).
- Farah is married to Tania Nell. They have three daughters – Rhianna, Aisha and Amani.
- He has a home in Portland, Oregon (United States).
- Apparently, Mo Farah’s left leg is more than 1 inch longer than his right leg.
- Ryan Giggs and Muhammad Ali are among his sporting heroes.
- In 2017, Mo Farah was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to athletics. He is now known as Sir Mo Farah.
- In 2022, Mo Farah filmed a documentary with the BBC called The Real Mo Farah in which he talked about how he was people trafficked to England as a child.
