My first meeting with him was unforeseen, clandestine. It took place in Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA) in October 2010. I traveled there to write about another runner, American Dathan Ritzenhein, who was training for that year’s New York Marathon with his new coach, Alberto Salazar, a former star turned eccentric modeller, making changes to Ritzenhein’s stance and stride.
There was another athlete in training, silent and withdrawn, who was introduced as Mo Farah.
He had recently become the first British man to win the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the European Championships, but he was not yet a four-time Olympic gold medalist and a six-time world champion. We shook hands, but Farah’s presence that day was secretive, like a meeting of spies on a bridge in Berlin rather than a chance meeting on a crisp, clear morning in the middle of the desert.
I don’t remember the reason for the secrecy. It probably hadn’t been made official yet that Salazar would be Farah’s trainer. Anyway, Salazar asked me not to mention Farah’s name or presence. He looked like a ghost.
I was reminded of that brief, furtive encounter, with the concealment and the camouflaged identity, when Farah made the stunning revelation in a BBC documentary this week that he was trafficked under a false name from Somalia, East Africa, to Britain when he was 9 years old and forced to work as a domestic servant.
Her dreadful arrival was later alleviated by the encouragement of a physical education teacher, and Farah became one of the greatest distance runners in the world. He is the only man, with the exception of Lasse Viren, the Finnish superstar of the 1970s, to win the 5,000 meters (3.1 miles) and 10,000 meters (6.2 miles) at successive Olympics. Farah has also won these events three times each at the world championships in track and field. From 2011 to 2017, he was nearly unbeatable on the track in the sport’s biggest competitions.
Farah’s running style was no different from the way he faced life’s vicissitudes — starting at the back, persevering lap after lap, patient and resilient, and ending with a brilliant sprint.
On 4 August 2012, at the London Olympics, in front of a throbbing crowd of 80,000 spectators, Great Britain won three gold medals in athletics in the space of 45 minutes. Farah threw the coronation party in the 10,000 meters, giving the UK its first Olympic victory in long-distance running in over a century.
In a 25-lap tactical race that started slowly, Farah waited until the end to take the lead. He ran the last mile in about 4 minutes and 8 seconds and the final lap in 53.48 seconds. A group of 11 runners split into five and dissolved into desperate waves, leaving Farah unreachable down the stretch ahead of silver medalist, her training partner Galen Rupp of the United States.
As he entered the stadium, Farah said later that night, “I got really dizzy, like I had ten cups of coffee.” In that moment of adrenaline and anticipation, he realized, “I have to do something.”
He was not a stoic winner, but someone whose joy and pleasure were contagious.
A week later, Farah won the 5,000 meters in a similar fashion – a measured start that turned into a thrilling finish. His friend Usain Bolt joined in the vertigo, putting his arms over his head to form an M and representing the jubilant celebration of Farah’s “Mobot”.
Even when Farah’s easygoing, efficient manner betrayed him, it didn’t matter. We saw this when he was accidentally knocked down by Rupp in the 10,000 meters at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Farah got up quickly and even won the gold medal, then took a second victory in the 5,000 meters. In 2017, Farah was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, although, following traditional royal custom, he did not ask her to make the Mobot.
Farah wore a top hat and tailcoat and told reporters he had dreamed of “becoming something” by winning an Olympic gold medal. “As an 8-year-old coming from Somalia without speaking a word of English, being recognized by his country is amazing,” he said.
His story, however, was more complicated than that, on and off the track.
His former coach Salazar ruined his own career over accusations of promoting doping and sexual misconduct. He denied any wrongdoing. Farah has never been accused of doping and has vehemently denied it, but in a sport played in the dark arts of banned substances, shadows of suspicion have been cast over his achievements.
He told several stories about the use of L-carnitine, a substance that turns fat into energy and is legal unless it is infused in excessive amounts. The substance was cited by anti-doping authorities in Salazar’s sanction. Nine years ago, in an autobiography called “Twin Ambitions,” Farah gave a slightly different account of his upbringing. London’s Metropolitan Police are investigating his allegations that he was trafficked.
If the claims are confirmed, Farah would have told the BBC a story that is both sad and inspiring, revealing the sad beginning and courageous determination of her life. He would have won his most important race. At 39, he would continue to run and no longer be haunted by his past.
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