Does Mo Farah have a twin brother? What is the Olympian’s real name, family background, how he came to the UK

Sir Mo Farah is one of greatest talents to present Team GB at the Olympics and his twin brother has played a key role in his success.

Sir Mo has highlighted the stability his identical twin brought to him during his early years growing up in Somaliland.

The four time Olympic champion has opened up about his childhood in a new BBC Documentary titled The Real Mo Farah, where he reveals the shocking reason behind his name change and how he was separated from his family in Somaliland as a child.

What is Mo Farah’s real name?

The Olympic star has told the BBC that the name Mo Farah was given to him by those who flew him over to the UK from Djibouti. His real name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.

Who is Mo Farah’s twin brother?

Mo Farah’s twin brother goes by the name of Hassan Farah and they were both raised in Djibouti.

Sir Mo has described their bond as being very close when they were children, they played football together, shared jokes and sat at the dinner table.

This all changed drastically when Mo Farah was taken away from his family and trafficked into the UK by a woman he had never met before.

Hassan, felt as though a part of him had been ripped away, he said: “It was lonely. Twins are supposed to grow together into adulthood but we never had that opportunity. We had this incredible bond, and that disappeared in one night. It took me a long time to get over that.”

In 2003, 12 years after they had last seen each other, Farah and his brother were finally reunited.

Mo Farah said: “That moment I got off the plane in Djibouti and saw him, I will never forget. We had lived, and still live, two different lives. But we still have that same bond and connection.”

Farah stated that Hassan now lives in Somalia as a telecoms engineer with a wife and ten children.

What happened to Mo Farah?

The long distance runner, who won two gold medals at the London 2012 Olympics had previously said he came to the UK as a refugee with his parents.

But in a documentary by the BBC and Red Bull Studios, Sir Mo has revealed that his parents have never been to the UK.

When he was four-years-old his father was killed in a Somalian civil war. His brothers and mothers currently live on their family farm in the breakaway state of Somaliland.

Mo Farah was trafficked into the UK at nine-years-old by a woman he had never met before. She had told him she was taking him to live with relatives in the UK.

When he arrived in the UK the woman took him to her flat in Hounslow, west London and took a piece of paper off him that had his relative details on it. She ripped it up in front of him.

Mo Farah wasn’t allowed to attend school for his first few years in the country and was forced to work as a domestic servant in order to get any food in his mouth.

Sir Mo says he wants to tell his story to challenge public perceptions of trafficking and slavery, he said: “I had no idea there was so many people who are going through exactly the same thing that I did. It just goes to show how lucky I was. What really saved me,what made me different, was that I could run.”

What time is The Real Mo Farah documentary on TV?

The Real Mo Farah will be on at 9pm on BBC One, it is also available from the BBC iPlayer at 6am on Wednesday 13 July.

It reflects on the story of how he came to the UK and also focuses on the key figures in Sir Mo’s life who helped him acclimatise to his new surroundings.

Mo Farah now has 10 global championships to his name, including four Olympic medals, making him the most successful male track distance runner in history.