Biography

Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a Somali-British former long-distance runner. Considered one of the greatest runners of all time, his ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner in the history of the sport, and he is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history.

Farah is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist in both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m. He is the second athlete, after Lasse Virén, to win both the 5,000 m and 10,000 m titles at successive Olympic Games. He also completed the 'distance double' at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics. He was the first man to defend both distance titles in both major global competitions; a feat described as the 'quadruple-double'. After finishing second in the 10,000 metres at the 2011 World Championships, Farah had an unbroken streak of ten global final wins (the 5,000m in 2011, the double in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016, and the 10,000m in 2017). The streak ended in Farah's final championship track race, when he finished second to Ethiopia's Muktar Edris in the 2017 5,000 metres final.

On the track, Farah mostly competed over 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres, but has run competitively from 1,500 metres to the marathon. In 2017, he indicated his intention to switch wholly to road racing following victory at his final track race, the 2017 IAAF Diamond League 5,000 metres final. He won the 2018 Chicago Marathon in a time of 2:05:11, a European record. His running style has been described as bouncy and tactical, which he has attempted to alter for a more efficient and energy-saving stride pattern, especially in the longer distances. Farah runs distance races tactically, a style which is aided by his especially quick sprint finish. His tactics were described in Athletics Weekly: "(Farah) could run 24 strong laps of the track, which most of his East African rivals could match, before a blistering 400 metre sprint to the line, which none of them could."

Born in present-day Somaliland, the then Hussein Abdi Kahin was trafficked from Djibouti to London under the name of another child, Mohamed Farah, at the age of nine where he was forced into child labour. He adopted the name as his own thereafter, becoming a British citizen. He ran for Newham and Essex Beagles athletics club, training at St Mary's University College, Twickenham from 2001 to 2011. He did not reveal that he was a victim of trafficking until 2022.

Farah is the current world record holder for the one hour run (21,330 m), the current European record holder for the outdoor 3,000m (7:32.62) and 10,000 m (26:46.57), and the current British record holder for the 5,000 m (12:53.11). He formerly held the world best for the short track two miles at 8:03.40 (broken by Josh Kerr in 2024 with an 8:00.67 clocking), and also formerly held the European best in the outdoor two mile (8:07.85), until Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke it in 2023 with a new world best of 7:54.10. Farah was also the former British short track record holder for the 3,000 m, at 7:33.1+ (broken by Sam Atkin in 2023 with 7:31.97).

Farah was the first British athlete to win two gold medals at the same world championships. His five gold medals at the European Athletics Championships made him the most successful male athlete in individual events in the championships' history. He has won the European Athlete of the Year award and the British Athletics Writers Association British Athlete of the Year award more than any other athlete, three times and six times respectively. In 2017, Farah won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Farah was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2013 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to athletics. Twin Ambitions: My Autobiography (2013, Hodder & Stoughton) ISBN 9781444779585