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Real Mo Farah is a penniless student who dreams of meeting Olympic hero after name forced on ‘trafficked’ Olympic hero
THE real Mo Farah is a cheerful, penniless student who dreams of meeting his famous Olympic hero namesake in the flesh.
Speaking to The Sun from Turkey, the popular 39-year-old said that it would be “amazing” to go to the UK.
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He added: “Can you help me get there? I would like to meet Mo Farah.”
He spoke out after the running legend revealed he took another child’s identity when he was trafficked here.
The Sun can reveal the real Mohamed Farah was born into poverty in Mogadishu, Somalia, like Sir Mo, and travelled to Turkey two years ago with a dream of living in the UK.
And single Mohamed says he has been overwhelmed since the Olympic icon, 39, revealed the truth in a BBC documentary on Wednesday.
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He said: “It has been crazy. People have been calling me and messaging me — friends and media from all over the world.”
It is understood he has been studying at Istanbul Aydin University, which runs science and tech courses.
He was recently staying at £2-a-day digs with students from Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Afghanistan.
He also worked part-time at a furniture shop until it shut down.
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A local shopkeeper said: “He is a very nice, very polite man — always has time to talk and tell you about his day.
“Who knew that all this time his name was being used by a famous runner in England?”
In online photos from last winter, Mohamed — an Arsenal fan like Sir Mo — poses in a park near his digs.
Fellow students say Mohamed moved out two months ago after finding roomier accommodation.
It is not known if Sir Mo has helped him out financially.
One student said: “Mohamed is a lovely guy, he was very popular in the dormitory, always smiling. It’s mainly foreign students here, it’s very cheap.
“Mohammed was definitely very excited about going to England and would talk about that a lot. That was his dream.”
As a child, his mum moved Mohamed to Nairobi in Kenya after his dad Mukhtar left, and he attended a school for under-privileged kids.
He went on to study at Kenyatta University and on social media says he was the CEO of Amaaj Enterprise — but it cannot be found on the web.
A family source revealed he reconnected with his father in 2019 and moved to Somaliland to live with him.
He stayed for about a year before making his way to Turkey in 2020.
The source said: “Mo is having to take a big chance to get the life he deserves.
“He has never expressed any bitterness about his situation but the family feels very bad for him. He was left to fend for himself in Africa while another child went to a nice school in London and was given so many opportunities by using his name.”
Sir Mo — brought to the UK by a woman called Nimco Farah — claimed Mukhtar was his real dad in his autobiography.
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However his father was killed during the Somalian civil war.
Asked if the real Mohamed can come to the UK, Sir Mo says on the documentary: “I will try my best to make that happen.”
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