The legendary Mo Farah has retired. On September 3, the four-time Olympic champion from Great Britain ran his last race. In London, Mo finished fourth in the Grand Half Marathon.
Farah, 40, has made a great journey in sports, but her life around sports turned out to be extremely ambiguous.
So who is Mo Farah? Great champion or deceiver?
The best track and field athlete.
Farah is one of the longest stayers in history. It is not surprising, because throughout his entire career, Mo failed to win at major tournaments only three times: at the 2006 European Championships and at the 2011 and 2017 World Championships, he won silver. He won every other key start from 2010 to 2017.
Perhaps the first important moment in Farah’s career was the 2012 home Olympics, where the athlete won gold at the distances of 5,000 and 10,000 m, then folded his hands over his head in the shape of a heart. In the future, this gesture will become Mo’s main trait, his distinctive trait for fans.
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The following year, Farah broke the European record for 1,500 meters, achieved a “golden” double and was recognized as the best athlete in Great Britain.
Another important point is the 2016 Olympic Games and its two gold medals. Victories in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters made Mo the most decorated British athlete. He also became the second runner in history, after Lasse Viren, to surpass the 5K and 10K in two consecutive Games. To this end, Queen Elizabeth II invited Farah to his reception and knighted him. Then the athlete officially became Sir Mo Farah.
Another important stage of his career was the 2017 World Cup on home soil. There, the Briton took gold in the 10,000 m and silver in the 5,000 m, and then focused on marathons and even broke the European record. He tried to return to the 2020 Olympics, but failed. However, looking at the list of titles, there is no doubt about the greatness of the British champion.
Mo Farah with a medal
Photo: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
big liar
But there is a dark side to Farah’s life.
From 2015 to 2019, Moe was embroiled in a major doping scandal because of his coach Alberto Salazar. It all started when the BBC made a film about Salazar, condemning him for violating anti-doping rules. In particular, it was alleged that he administered to his pupils L-carnitine, amino acids, testosterone and other substances that improved the physical abilities of athletes. Coach Mo was eventually suspended for four years.
During the investigation, Farah was also questioned several times. At first she claimed that she had not received any L-carnitine injection, but when evidence emerged, she said that she had completely forgotten to use the medication. L-carnitine is allowed in doses of up to 50 ml, and Mo was only injected with 13.5 ml, so Farah’s main violation is that she did not indicate the use of the drug in the doping control protocol. But the legend was not punished for it.
How Farah got away with the doping scandal:
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It was also surprising when the British Anti-Doping Agency refused to hand over Mo’s samples to WADA for Salazar’s investigation in 2020. The agency said the samples could simply go bad. Farah’s case was ultimately hushed up.
And in the summer of 2022, the athlete spoke about the main lie of his life. For years, Farah claimed that his British father was forced to flee Somalia to London with his family because of the civil war. The boy’s path to the new homeland was difficult: at first he and his family lived in Djibouti with his grandmother, and then they went to London without his twin brother Hassan, who became seriously ill and stayed behind. with some relatives. But everything turned out completely different.
Mo Farah
Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
“I am known by the name of Mo Farah, but that is not my name, that is not true. In fact, I was born in Somaliland, in the north of Somalia, and my name is Hussein Abdi Kahin. Yes, I have said the opposite in the past, but I now admit that my parents have never been to the UK. My father died in the riots in my homeland when I was only four years old and I was separated from my mother. “I was smuggled to London when I was nine,” Mo said in the BBC film.
The woman who took Farah to London forced the boy to work in the house and take care of her children for almost three years. Mo only went to school when he was 12 years old.
Farah was helped out of slavery by his physical education teacher, Alan Watkinson, who recognized in the 14-year-old the qualities of a tough runner. Farah told his story to Watkinson, who found the boy a new foster family and helped him with citizenship registration. Farah decided to talk about his real life in 2022 to draw attention to the problem of slavery and human trafficking, and also to be honest with his children.
Mo Farah’s Real Life Story:
“That’s not my name, that’s not true.” The great British champion turned out to be a great deceiver
A man who was involved in bizarre doping stories and lied for most of his life can hardly be called a positive hero. But his greatest sporting career cannot be ruled out.
Is he a hero or a deceiver? Let everyone decide for themselves.
