Sir Mo Farah has said Qatar is safer for his family than living in London, after the Team GB legend recently made the move to the middle eastern nation.
The four-time Olympic gold medallist, born in Somaliland and raised in Feltham as a refugee, has decided to move away from London with his young family.
In 2010, the Farahs moved to Portland, Oregon, for seven years for Sir Mo’s training.
But now they have moved to Doha, which he said was to fully prioritise his children now that the runner has hung up his boots.
It was a promise to his children, stepdaughter Rihanna, 20, and a recent graduate of the Brit School, twins Aisha and Amani, 12, and his son Hussein, nine, that they would now be the priority following his retirement.
Sir Mo said the move has allowed his children to live their lives freely without the distractions that come with having a famous father.
He told The Telegraph: ‘It’s a little bit challenging for them when they’re with me and I’m getting recognised. I want them to be kids. [The move] is purely for my kids and their privacy for the time being. I’d never really stopped, so I wanted somewhere quiet where I could separate my work from family. And the kids are happy, that’s the key thing.’
The legend of London 2012 said Doha is ‘much safer’ than the city where he grew up.
Sir Mo Farah has said Qatar is safer for his family than living in London
Farah celebrates after winning the men’s 10,000m final the London 2012 Olympics
Sir Mo received an honorary degree from Oxford University
He added: ‘My kids have signed up for a gym and they can go by themselves there. It’s much safer than London. I started to worry, living in London, because you can educate your kids as much as you can, but if they get in the wrong place at the wrong time, you see a lot of stuff happening. That’s a worry.’
Qatar has become a popular destination for Londoners seeking to move away.
However, while the Gulf state is seen as a neutral player in increasing tensions in the Middle East, Iranian missle strikes on a US military base in Qatar in June have caused some unease in the country.
Sir Mo and his family were in Britain at the time of the strike, as they still maintain a house in Weybridge, Surrey.
He said: ‘It’s scary of course, but it is for all of us around the world. You’ve got to take each day as it comes, and luckily it wasn’t anywhere near where we live.’
The family still plans on returning to Britain in the future and always wears a Union flag bracelet on his wrist.
In 2022, Sir Mo sensationally revealed that he was trafficked into Britain and spent his early years here in domestic servitude.
His father died in the civil war in Somalia when Mo, real name Adbi Khan, was just four years old.
Sir Mo and his wife Tania pose after the documentary about his upbringing won a BAFTA
Farah has moved to Doha to prioritise his children, away from the limelight
In 1993 he was illegally trafficked into the UK as an eight-year-old boy under a false passport bearing his new identity ‘Mo Farah’ – a name that had been stolen from another child.
He was then forced carry out household chores for the family of the woman who brought him here.
Sir Mo was enrolled in a tough junior school in the predominantly white area of Feltham, west London, where his refusal to be cowed meant he was forever getting into fights.
He confided in his PE teacher Alan Watkinson, who alerted social services to his situation.
He was then put in contact with social services and moved in with a schoolfriend’s mother, Kinsi.
Finally happy and cared for, he remained there for the next seven years. The teacher who came to Sir Mo’s rescue also helped him to get UK citizenship.
His athletic talent began to shine through and in 2011 he burst onto the scene with a gold medal in the 5,000m at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea.
Undoubtedly his most memorable triumphs cam just a year later when Farah won two golds in the 10,000m and 5,000m on home soil during London 2012, when his famous ‘Mobot’ gesture first graced television screens.
The Team GB legend said he and his family still plan on returning to Britain
Mo Farah celebrates with his gold medals after winning the Men’s 5000m and 10,000m at the Olympic Games in Rio
He became part of ‘Super Saturday’ which saw three Brits win gold in the Olympic stadium, with Farah joining Heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill and long jumper Greg Rutherford.
He then won double gold again at the World Championships in Moscow in 2013 and completed a double-defence of his Olympic titles in Rio in 2016.
Sir Mo finished his hugely succesful career in middle distance running in 2017, in London again, with a Gold medal in the 10,000m and a silver in the 5,000m.
He then turned his attention to the marathon distance in 2018, achieving a third placed finish in the London marathon.
Away from running, Sir Mo has become a regular player in Soccer Aid each year and in 2012 also became the only British contestant to ever win The Cube game show, one of only eight winners worldwide.
