Mo Farah

"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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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.

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.

The distance runner was flown to the UK from the East African country aged eight or nine by a woman he had never met.

asks Farah in a video call. "The only thing I could do to get away from this (situation) was to get out and run," he says. Farah was told by lawyers during the making of the documentary due to "false representations" he risked being stripped of his British citizenship. "The only language he seemed to understand was the language of PE and sport," says Watkinson. "At that moment, I knew I was in trouble," he says. The woman who flew with him to the UK told him he was being taken to live with relatives and to say his name was Mohamed as she had fake travel documents that showed his photo next to the name "Mohamed Farah".

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.

Olympic great Mo Farah won praise from across Britain's political spectrum Tuesday after the shock revelation that he was illegally trafficked as a child to ...

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. "At that moment, I knew I was in trouble," he recalled. Farah said he was forced to do housework and childcare "if I wanted food in my mouth", and was told: "If you ever want to see your family again, don't say anything." 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". The admission could have raised questions about Farah's UK citizenship, but the interior ministry said he was in the clear. He said his children had encouraged him to tell the truth about his past.

The Olympic gold medalist has revealed he was illegally trafficked as a child to Britain and 'Mo Farah' is not his real name.

And what he is doing is courageous and I commend him for that." "There are people who still have a huge issue over here, in respect of immigration, legal or otherwise. 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. "The only language he seemed to understand was the language of PE and sport," says Watkinson. 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". "I think he is sharing his experience and there are a lot of kids out there who are talented, who are looking up to him as well and saying "if I have this kind of opportunity, I will excel in life, in every aspect of life that I find myself."

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.

"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 ...

Farah described being exploited and threatened, as he worked in the household of another family. The celebrated runner says his unique abilities and luck are all that saved him from trafficking and forced servitude. "Often, I would just lock myself in the bathroom and cry, and nobody's there to help. But after arriving, the woman tore up the paper and threw it in the trash. At the time, he was around 8 or 9 years old. And I do wonder, what is Mohammed doing now?"

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.

The four-time Olympic champion, 39, told a BBC documentary he was born Hussein Abdi Kahin. "The truth is I'm not who you think I am," he said as he ...

He added: "This is my country. The Metropolitan Police has said it is "assessing" Sir Mo's allegations that he was trafficked into the UK as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant. Sir Mo Farah is "relieved" the Home Office will not be taking any action against him after he revealed he was "trafficked" into the UK as a child.

Farah revealed in a documentary titled The Real Mo Farah that he was brought to Britain from Somalia illegally.

Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Similarly, London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted his support for the Olympian. Following the shock announcement, Farah said he is “really proud” of the documentary, which enabled him to “address and learn more” about his past and his journey to Britain. Figures from the world of politics have praised Farah as “truly inspirational” and a “great Briton” after he revealed he was trafficked into the UK as a child. It comes after the Metropolitan Police said it was “assessing” Farah’s allegations that he was trafficked into the UK as a child and forced to work as a domestic servant. Sir Mo Farah says he is “relieved” the Home Office has no plans to take action against him, after making the shock revelation that he was brought to the UK illegally as a child.

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.

Olympic great Mo Farah expressed relief Wednesday after receiving fulsome backing from the UK government despite his admission that he was illegally ...

So we went through the right channels, but I don't know why nothing was ever done," he said. I'm gonna lock it up," he said. I had no control when I was younger." "Alan did go to social services. London's Metropolitan Police said it was "assessing" the allegation that Farah was trafficked, after his mother sent him away to escape civil war in their native Somalia. A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "He is a sporting hero, he is an inspiration to people across the country.

The four-time Olympic gold-medal hero revealing he arrived in the UK illegally and under a false name has put the government in an awkward position over its ...

“I had all the contact details for my relative,” Sir Mo says in the documentary, “and once we got to her house, the lady took it off me and right in front of me ripped them up and put it in the bin and at that moment I knew I was in trouble. “This is a really important story,” Rob McNeil, the deputy director of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, told The New York Times of Sir Mo’s situation. On Tuesday, as part of some pre-publicity for a documentary to be released on Wednesday, the news broke that Mo Farah is not his real name but that of another, and instead of arriving legally with his parents, he was illegally trafficked to Britain at the age of nine and spent his first years in the country doing what essentially amounted to unpaid labour. Djokovic had the good grace – at a time when he was not known for it – to use his own situation to bring attention to their plight, too. For the news as it turns out, is that much of what we thought we knew about Mo Farah is false. Cathy Freeman winning the 400m at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games as the nation cheered itself hoarse was a case in point.

Mo Farah has expressed relief after receiving backing from the UK government despite his admission that he was illegally trafficked into Britain as a child.

I'm gonna lock it up," he said. So we went through the right channels, but I don't know why nothing was ever done," he said. I had no control when I was younger." Rather than moving to the UK as a refugee from Somalia with his mother and two of his brothers to join his IT consultant father as previously claimed, Farah said he came from Djibouti with the woman he had never met, and then made to look after another family's children. "Alan did go to social services. London's Metropolitan Police said it was "assessing" the allegation that Farah was trafficked, after his mother sent him away to escape civil war in their native Somalia.