‘You can only block it out for so long’: Sir Mo Farah says he was trafficked to the UK as a child
Olympic legend Sir Mo Farah has revealed he was brought to the UK illegally as a child.
Speaking to the BBC, Farah said his real name is actually Hussein Abdi Kahin, and he was flown over from the east African country of Djibouti at the age of eight or nine by a stranger and forced to work as a domestic servant.
Farah had previously told the public that he had travelled over as a refugee from Somalia with his family.
“For years I just kept blocking it out, but you can only block it out for so long”, the athlete told the BBC.
When he eventually enrolled in a school in year seven, his PE teacher saw a natural talent for long-distance running in Farah.
It was also this PE teacher, Alan Watkinson, that also got in touch with social services and helped the eventual champion be fostered by another Somali family.
Mr Watkinson also applied for Sir Mo’s British citizenship in 2000, where he was finally recognised as a British citizen.
The gold medal winner said he is finally telling his story to break down public perceptions about trafficking and slavery.
“I had no idea there was so many people who are going through exactly the same thing that I did. It just shows how lucky I was,” he said.
“What really saved me, what made me different, was that I could run.”