UK Olympian confesses - 25th July 2022

The UK's Olympic runner Sir Mo Farah has revealed that he was trafficked as a child. He was brought to the UK illegally under a false name.

The Olympian was only nine years old when his name was changed to Mohamed Farah by a woman who used him as a child slave. If he wanted to eat, he had to look after her children and her home.

Before he revealed this secret, Farah would say that his parents brought him to the UK as a refugee. However, Farah’s family have never been to the UK and are actually from Somaliland, where his father lost his life in a civil war. Farah was only four then.

When Farah got to the UK, aged nine, he was told that he was going to his relatives. However, the woman he travelled with, took him home and made him her house slave. He never got to communicate with his relatives.

Until the age of 12, the woman kept Mo away from school and he was never allowed outdoors.

Farah's school teachers were worried about him. They feared he wasn't being looked after. He couldn't speak much English and had hardly made any friends. But his PE teacher saw how young Mo succeeded at sports. "The only language he seemed to understand was the language of PE and sport." Farah had a bright future in running.

While he's escaped his situation, Sir Mo Farah realises he's been lucky. He hopes his dark secret will bring awareness to the many victims of trafficking and child slavery.