Mo Farah was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1983. He was still an infant when his family fled the war-torn country and sought refuge in the United Kingdom, eventually settling in London’s East End borough of Tooting. As he tells it, his parents didn’t speak much English and he grew up surrounded by a lot of brothers and sisters and his father’s large extended family, many of whom lived nearby and helped raise him after school.
How he trained in Somalia ?
Mo was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and moved to London when he was eight years old. He began training at the age of 12 and soon became one of the fastest distance runners in Great Britain. In 2004, he became European champion over 5000 metres and repeated his success in 2005. At the 2006 European Championships, he competed in both 5000 metres and 10,000 metres events, but failed to win either race. His breakthrough came at the 2007 World Championships where he won 5000 meters and 10,000 meters gold medals with world record times on both occasions.
He started out as a running back in football
Mo Farah's family moved from Somalia to London when he was eight years old. He grew up in the outskirts of London, where he attended Feltham Community College. Initially, Mo was a running back for the football team, but then switched to long-distance running and eventually became one of the world's best distance runners. His training regimen includes six days a week track workouts, two gym sessions and four to five hours a day on his own training.
How he got into track and field ?
Mo's first major race was the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he finished eighth in the 5000 metres. He went on to claim a silver medal in the 10,000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He then won two gold medals, in both 5000 and 10,000 meters at the 2012 London Olympics. He has also competed at six consecutive IAAF World Championships since 2005 and won three consecutive world titles over 1500m in 2009-2011.
Why he changed his name ?
Mo Farah was born in Somalia, and to this day has a difficult time talking about his childhood. He never knew his father and was brought up by his mother and grandmother, who both encouraged him to do all the things they couldn't in their restrictive culture. His mother, who died when he was 11 years old, told him You can be anything you want to be which became his mantra.
My mum always said to me 'you can achieve anything you put your mind to'. I believed her.
When he moved with his family from Mogadishu to Djibouti at the age of seven, he changed schools a few times before settling on a French school where the kids teased him for being different.
His 3 gold medals at 2012 London Olympics
Mo Farah is the most decorated British track and field athlete in history, with six global titles and four World Championship victories. He has won the 5000m at both the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics. In London he became only the second person ever to retain an Olympic distance running title, after Finland’s Lasse Viren in 1972. In Rio he smashed his own world record for 10,000m on his way to victory.
His 4 gold medals at 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics
Mo Farah is a professional runner who has won four Olympic gold medals in two successive games. His first gold medal came from the 10,000 metre race in 2012, where he set a new British record. He then won the 5000 metres race in 2008 and 2016, becoming only the second man to achieve this. In 2012, he became the first British track athlete to win three gold medals at one Olympics and was awarded with an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his achievement. In addition to his Olympic success, Mo Farah also won silver at both the World Championships in 2015 and 2017. He has been called 'the greatest male distance runner in history' by commentators such as David Rudisha and is widely regarded as Britain's best ever middle distance runner.
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