Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah reveals he was child victim of human trafficking

British runner Mo Farah rose to international superstardom at the London 2012 Olympics, winning gold medals in both the 5,000m and 10,000m races.

Repeating the feat in both disciplines at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Farah cemented his legacy as one of the world’s most incredible athletes as well as one of the UK’s biggest stars.

But in an upcoming documentary set to air on the BBC tomorrow night, Farah revealed that he was taken as a child from his home in Somaliland, the autonomous state that separated from Somalia in 1991, and trafficked to the United Kingdom.

“Most people know me as Mo Farah,” he told BBC. “But that’s not my name or it’s not the reality. The real story is I was born in Somaliland, north of Somalia, as Hussein Abdi Kahin.”

Through this documentary I have been able to address and learn more about what happened in my childhood and how I came to the UK. I'm really proud of it and hope you will tune into @BBC at 9pm on Weds to watch. pic.twitter.com/rqZe41gFm8

— Sir Mo Farah (@Mo_Farah) July 11, 2022

Farah said he’d been taken first to Djibouti, before being brought to the UK to live with a different family. Farah was given his now-famous name by the traffickers, while they discarded his old identity.

“Right in front of me, she ripped up [my documents] and put it in the bin. At that moment, I knew I was in trouble,” he said. “[She told me] if you ever want to see your family again, don’t say anything.”

Farah was then subjected to housework and childcare as he was kept out of school for a year. Eventually, he was enrolled into school under the name “Mohamed Farah,” and was described to his peers as a Somali refugee.

“For years I just kept blocking it out,” he added. “But you can only block it out for so long.”

Farah’s documentary is set to air on BBC One at 9 pm BT on Wednesday evening. No international distribution have yet been announced.