Athletics star Mo Farah reveals he arrived in Britain under a false identity
Briton Mo Farah at a press conference in Brussels on September 3, 2020 Belga / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
4 mins
Mo Farah, king of the athletics tracks knighted by the Queen of England for his Olympic exploits, reveals in a documentary that he arrived in Great Britain illegally under a false identity before being forced to work as a servant in a family.
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"
The truth is, I'm not who you think I am.
Most people know me as Mo Farah, but that's not the reality.
I was separated from my mother and brought to the UK illegally under the name of another child called Mohamed Farah
,” the four-time Olympic champion explained in an interview to be aired on the BBC on Wednesday.
Farah, now 39, says in this interview that he received Mohamed Farah's name from a woman who brought him to the UK - telling him he would join relatives there - from
Djibouti
, the country from East Africa at the age of 9.
The athlete, author of the double 5,000 meters / 10,000 meters at the London Olympics in 2012 then Rio in 2016, reveals that his name is actually Hussein Abdi Kahin.
His father was killed in
Somalia
when he was 4 years old.
His mother and two brothers live in the separatist region of
Somaliland
, which is not recognized by the international community.
Forced to work in a British family
“
The real story is that I was born in Somaliland, northern Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin.
Despite what I have said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK
,” Farah continues.
He had previously explained that he was born in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, and arrived in Great Britain in 1993 at the age of 10 with his mother and two of his brothers and sisters to join his computer scientist father.
Upon his arrival in the country, the woman who accompanied him took the paper on which appeared the contact details of his relatives, "
tore it up and put it in the trash
", says Farah. "
At that time, I knew I had a problem
”.
Farah, the first Briton to win four Olympic titles in athletics, also says he was forced to do housework and look after other children in a British family if he wanted "
to have enough to eat
".
“
If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything
,” he heard himself say.
“
I often locked myself in the bathroom and cried
,” he says.
Only escape: run
One day, he finally revealed the truth to his physical education teacher, Alan Watkinson, who had noticed his mood swings whenever he was on the track.
He then went to live with the mother of a “
friend
” who “
really took care
” of him.
"
The only language he seemed to understand was that of physical education and sport
," says Alan Watkinson.
“
The only thing I could do to get away from this (situation) was to get out and run
,” Farah says.
The professor then applied for British citizenship for the athlete, who was finally granted it on July 25, 2000.
Farah returned to Somalia in 2003 and later set up a foundation with his wife to build wells and provide food and medical aid in Africa.
"
I realized that I couldn't live there anymore, that if I had stayed, I wouldn't be the runner that I am
," he explained in 2007, a year after his international track podium (silver in 5,000 at the European Championships).
Six-time world champion
Six-time world champion, he became a huge star in Great Britain by achieving his double at the London 2012 Games, then repeating it four years later in Rio.
He then converted to the road, but with less success, despite success at the famous Chicago Marathon in 2018.
The athlete explains that it was his four children who prompted him to reveal the truth about his past.
"
I hid it for so long, it was difficult because you don't want to face it and often my children would ask questions (...).
And you always have an answer for everything, but you don't have an answer for that
”.
“
That's the main reason I tell my story, because I want to feel normal and not feel like I'm clinging to something
,” he says.
Farah, who called his son Hussein after his real name, concludes "
I often think of the other Mohamed Farah, the boy whose seat I took on this plane, and I really hope he is well
".
(With AFP)
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