Mo Farah

Sir Mohamed "Mo" Muktar Jama Farah, born Hussein Abdi Kahin on 23 March 1983, is a British former long-distance runner. Holding four Olympic and six World titles, he is the most successful male track distance runner in the sport's history and the most successful British track athlete in Olympic Games history. Farah primarily competed in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres, while also running events ranging from 1,500 metres to the marathon.

Born in the Somali Democratic Republic, Farah was separated from his mother after his father died when he was four. At age nine, he was illegally trafficked to the United Kingdom under the name Mohamed Farah and forced into domestic service. He later attended Feltham Community College, where physical education teacher Alan Watkinson identified his running talent. Philanthropist Eddie Kulukundis paid legal fees to support his naturalisation as a British citizen in July 2000.

Farah joined the Borough of Hounslow Athletics Club and won five English school cross-country titles. He earned his first major title in the 5,000 metres at the 2001 European Athletics Junior Championships, starting his training at St Mary's University College in Twickenham that same year. By July 2006, he became Britain's second-fastest 5,000-metre runner and secured a silver medal at the European Championships in Gothenburg.

In 2009, Farah set British indoor records in the 3,000 metres and won gold at the European Indoor Championships. He achieved further success at the 2010 European Athletics Championships by winning gold in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres. Later that year, he became the first British athlete to run the 5,000 metres in under 13 minutes, recording a time of 12:57.94 in Zürich.

In 2011, Farah moved to Portland, Oregon, to work with coach Alberto Salazar. That year, he set European records in the 10,000 metres and British records in the 5,000 metres. At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, he won silver in the 10,000 metres and gold in the 5,000 metres, becoming the first British man to win a World Championships medal in either distance.

Farah achieved major global success by winning gold in both the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. He repeated this double at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships, completing a feat termed the 'quadruple-double'. Following his 2011 World Championship silver, Farah achieved an unbroken streak of ten global final wins until finishing second in the 5,000 metres at the 2017 World Championships.

Farah later transitioned to road racing, winning the 2018 Chicago Marathon in a European record time of 2:05:11, and setting a world record in the one-hour run. Recognized for his tactical racing style and strong 400-metre sprint finish, his career achievements earned him the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2017 and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.