Mo Farah became a legend of UK athletics by winning gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. However, behind those achievements lies a chilling story about his origin.
During the El verdadero Mo Farah documentary produced by the BBC, the former athlete revealed his true identity. "I was actually born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, under the name Hussein Abdi Kahin. Despite what I said in the past, my parents never lived in the UK," he said.
"When I was four years old, my father was killed in the civil war and my family fell apart. I was separated from my mother and brought to the UK illegally under the name of another child called Mohamed Farah," he added.
The athletics legend recalled that a woman took him away from his family and brought him to Europe to work as a domestic worker and take care of children. "I often locked myself in the bathroom and cried," he mentioned.
"I had all the paperwork with contact information for my family, and once we arrived at her house, the lady grabbed them, tore them in front of me, and threw them in the trash. At that moment, I knew I was in trouble," he added.
The athlete specified that it wasn't until he was 12 years old that he was able to go to school, and it was there that he met his physical education teacher named Alan Watkinson. Mo told the teacher about his situation, who then got in touch with social services.
Later, Mo was adopted by another Somali family. "From that moment on, everything improved. I felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders," he said.
He also confessed that he decided to tell his story because of the constant questions from his children. "I've been keeping it to myself for a long time, and it has been difficult because I didn't want to face it (...) I want to feel like a normal person and not someone hiding something," the athlete expressed.