Mo Farah

The 39-year-old said his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin. Read more at straitstimes.com.

"Wherever he is, I carry his name and that could cause problems now for me and my family. Farah eventually told his physical education teacher Alan Watkinson the truth and moved to live with his friend's mum, Kinsi, who "really took great care" of him and he ended up staying for seven years. "That's the main reason in telling my story because I want to feel normal and don't feel like you're holding on to something."

Farah, an accomplished distance runner, made the revelation in an upcoming documentary, saying it could put his citizenship at risk.

He was placed in the care of a friend’s mother. He successfully repeated as champion in both races four years later at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, winning gold despite a dramatic fall halfway through the 10,000. In the documentary, Farah said he was separated from family after his father was killed during Somalia’s civil war. “And she said, ‘If you ever want to see your family again, don’t say anything. The lawyer, Alan Briddock, said that Farah was not likely to lose his citizenship because he was trafficked as a child and shared his story with the relevant authorities. He said he was putting his citizenship at risk by sharing his story, and spoke to a lawyer in the film about what the disclosure could mean for his future.

LONDON: Former Olympic champion Mo Farah revealed in an article published on Monday (Jul 11) that he was brought to Britain illegally under the name of ...

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The athlete, who says his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin, says he was flown out of Africa illegally and made to look after another family's children in ...

The four-time gold medalist said he was born in Somaliland with the name Hussein Abdi Kahin and illegally brought to the United Kingdom.

Last week, he announced his plans to return to the London Marathon in October. He was granted British citizenship under the name Mohamed Farah in 2000. In previous interviews, Farah had said he came to the United Kingdom from Somalia with his parents as a refugee.

LONDON — Olympic great Mo Farah was illegally trafficked to Britain at the age of nine from Djibouti and forced to work as a child servant, he has revealed, ...

"And the desperate need for safe and humane routes for people seeking asylum." "He underlines the human reality at the heart of so many stories like his," it added. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement

The gold medallist has spoken publicly for first time about being brought to UK and forced to work as a child servant.

He was recognised as a UK citizen in 2000. “The truth is I’m not who you think I am,” Farah said in the BBC TV documentary. His only escape, he said, was athletics. He said he thought he was going to go to Europe to live with relatives, but when he arrived in the UK, the woman who accompanied him took a piece of paper from him that had his relatives’ contact details and “ripped it up and put it in the bin”. In the documentary – The Real Mo Farah – the star athlete instead revealed that his father had been killed in Somalia’s civil war and that he had been separated from his mother before coming to the UK. Instead, the 39-year-old said he had been given the name Hussein Abdi Kahin when he was born in Somaliland. He said he was trafficked to the UK by an unknown woman as a child, forced to assume the identity of an unknown boy to him named Mohamed Farah, and work as a servant.

Olympian hailed as inspirational figure after revealing he was trafficked and forced into domestic servitude.

But he was still the cheeky chap. He knocked on the commentator’s door, and I opened the door and he said: ‘Don’t you want to interview me?’, and I said: ‘Well, you only finished 17th, and we don’t normally interview the guy who’s finished 17th.’” “I’ve known him for more than 20 years, since he was a young kid.

London (AP) -- Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah says he was illegally brought to the U.K. as a young boy and forced to care for other children before he ...

LONDON: Former Olympic champion Mo Farah revealed in an article published on Monday (Jul 11) that he was brought to Britain illegally under the name of ...

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"Most people know me as Mo Farah, but it's not my name — or, it's not the reality," Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah said, in a clip from an upcoming ...

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London (AP) -- Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah has disclosed he was brought into Britain illegally from Djibouti under the name of another child.

LONDON — Olympic great Mo Farah won praise from across Britain's political spectrum Tuesday (July 12) after the shock revelation that he was illegally ...

Farah revealed in the programme that he had since spoken to his now namesake and said he was "proud" he knows what he has achieved. Advertisement When he arrived in the UK, Farah said the woman who accompanied him took a piece of paper from him that had his relatives' contact details and "ripped it up and put it in the bin". Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement

The Olympian is widely praised for going public with his experiences of being trafficked into the UK.

He said it was "amazing" that the Olympian had emerged from his childhood experiences with a "light-hearted personality" and "steely determination". "I thought I knew the Mo Farah story and I thought I knew Mo Farah really well," Sir Brendan told the BBC. He described his story as a "Hollywood movie", adding that it was an "amazing, successful story of someone overcoming adversity." Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said he "salutes" Sir Mo Farah, describing the Olympic star as "truly inspirational" and an "amazing human". Fellow Olympian Sir Brendan Foster said his story was like a "Hollywood movie". Sir Mo Farah is an "inspiration to people across the country" after disclosing that he was trafficked into the UK as a child, No 10 has said.

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah says he was illegally brought to the U.K. as a young boy and forced to care for other children before he escaped a life ...

He decided to tell his story to publicize and challenge people’s perceptions of human trafficking, he said. The teacher contacted local officials, who arranged for a Somali family to take him in as a foster child. Farah says his fortunes changed when he was finally allowed to attend school. “I wasn’t treated as part of the family…,” Farah says in the documentary. The woman took him to an apartment in west London where he was forced to care for her children, Farah said. His mother and two brothers live on the family farm in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia that is not internationally recognized.

Farah grew up at a time of deep poverty and instability in the Horn of Africa, where criminal networks smuggling resources and people flourished.

Neighbouring Djibouti was relatively peaceful and so a haven for many in the region. Some travelled in the hope of bettering their lives, find safety from conflict or to flee persecution. But the region was also chaotic, very poor and violent. By the mid 1980s, a full-scale rebellion was under way, which eventually ousted Barre in 1991. Involvement in cold war proxy wars and military defeat by Soviet-backed neighbour Ethiopia also weakened the regime. He has said that he lived for several years in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, when very young, though he was not born there.

In a new documentary, Farah says his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin and that he was from taken from the East African nation of Djibouti.

He decided to tell his story to publicize and challenge people’s perceptions of human trafficking, he said. Politicians, sports figures and celebrities rushed to offer their support, including London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who praised his courage in coming forward in a Twitter post. Farah says his fortunes changed when he was finally allowed to attend school. The teacher contacted local officials, who arranged for a Somali family to take him in as a foster child. The woman took him to an apartment in west London where he was forced to care for her children, Farah said. His mother and two brothers live on the family farm in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia that is not internationally recognized.

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah said he was brought into Great Britain illegally from Djibouti under the name of another child.

He decided to tell his story to publicize and challenge people’s perceptions of human trafficking, he said. Farah says his fortunes changed when he was finally allowed to attend school. The teacher contacted local officials, who arranged for a Somali family to take him in as a foster child. The woman took him to an apartment in west London where he was forced to care for her children, Farah said. His mother and two brothers live on the family farm in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia that is not internationally recognized. “I wasn’t treated as part of the family…,” Farah says in the documentary.

London — British Olympic track star Mo Farah has told the BBC that he was trafficked from the east African nation of Djibouti to the U.K. when he was nine ...

Farah tells the BBC that when he was eight or nine, he was taken to Djibouti to stay with family members. Watkinson helped him apply for British citizenship under the name Mohamed Farah, and he got it in 2000. After a few years the woman allowed Farah to go to school. Previously, Farah had said he came to the U.K. as a refugee from Somalia with both of his parents. That's when Mo came out — the real Mo." "And she said: 'If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything.

Farah has said that without Watkinson's help and mentorship, he wouldn't have been able to erase the trauma of trafficking or recognised he could run.

”I felt like a lot of stuff was lifted off my shoulders, and I felt like me. We’d get the football out after training while football would form part of his warm-up and warm down. I had 29 kids sat on the floor and Mo was swinging from a football goal post!” Farah was 11 and swinging from a football goalpost when Watkinson first saw him. You certainly wouldn’t ever have seen him running hard in those (warm-up activities). He’d do a light jog instead,” Watkinson said. Legally, the UK government can strip a person of their British nationality if their citizenship was obtained through fraud.

The Olympian shares the truth about his childhood for the first time. Plus: set in a shop selling trainers, new comedy Sneakerhead from Dave has legs.

With a vacuum-tight comedy script, he deadpans his way through new responsibilities while managing his motley crew of staff, played deftly by Big Zuu, Francesca Mills and Lucia Keskin. A storyline about sexting – taking saucy selfies in a changing room with a dirty nappy in the background – is enough to bring out some barks of laughter by itself. “Not many people are lucky enough to say they have the shortest commute in Peterborough and still get to live with their dad.” In this funny three-episode ode to the British high street, affable and earnest loser Russell ( People Just Do Nothing’s Hugo Chegwin) is made manager of the Sports Depot he has worked at for nine years. Farah – who reveals here his birth name was Hussein Abdi Kahin – had previously said that he came to the UK with his father as refugees when he was eight-years-old; the reality was that his father was killed in civil violence in Somalia. In this landmark documentary, the gold medalist tells his extraordinary story, with an aim to challenge public perceptions of trafficking and slavery.