Sir Mo Farah has disclosed that he was illegally trafficked into Britain as a nine-year-old and forced into domestic servitude, contradicting his long-held public narrative. The four-time Olympic champion, 39, previously claimed he had moved from Somalia to join his father in London, but in a new BBC documentary, he reveals his real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin and that he was brought to the UK under an assumed identity.
Farah said he was separated from his mother after his father was killed in the civil war. At around age nine, a woman took him from Djibouti to Europe, telling him he would be renamed Mohamed Farah. Upon arrival in London, the woman tore up his relatives' contact details, and he was forced to work in a house. His PE teacher, Alan Watkinson, eventually rescued him and helped him apply for British citizenship using the false name.
The athlete admitted that the name Mohamed Farah was stolen from another child to create a fake passport. He said his children motivated him to be truthful, adding, 'I feel like I’ve always had that private thing where I could never be me.' His wife, Tania, said she 'wore him down with questioning' until he told the truth before their 2010 wedding.
The Home Office confirmed that no action would be taken against Sir Mo, stating, 'No action whatsoever will be taken against Sir Mo and to suggest otherwise is wrong.' The documentary ends with Farah speaking to the real Mohamed Farah, whose identity he used, though he will continue to go by the name he was given upon entering the UK.
