Just after 9.30pm on Sunday, Mo Farah’s neighbours might have started to question their initial enthusiasm about the new addition to their Doha community.
It was around then that Eberechi Eze completed his hat-trick in Arsenal’s 4-1 derby win over Tottenham.
Farah might be one of world sport’s most admired champions, but before all else, he's a diehard Gooner. His 10-year-old son Hussein, whose middle name might have been “Arsenal” but for a maternal veto, even has “Eze” on the back of his shirt. The Farah household is an Arsenal household – and on Sunday it must have been a noisy one.
“This could be our year. The team is looking strong,” Farah tells The National via Zoom, after revealing the time difference to the UK doesn’t deter him from trying to watch every single game.
Farah’s love of football is a big part of his life – it even played a serendipitous role in his decision to relocate from London to Doha earlier this year. “I blame England for that,” he says. “I went to watch the World Cup [in Qatar in 2022], England played the USA, and then I watched the semi-final, watched the final, took my kids out there. My family absolutely loved it and, for me, I've always said when I do stop running, I want to spend quality time with my family.
“It wasn't always the plan to go. [It wasn’t] ‘I'm in the UK, I want to move.' It just naturally happened and it's about being able to be happy and enjoy yourself.”
Farah’s move wasn’t without controversy. It was interpreted in some quarters as a verdict on the state of the UK. It’s a suggestion he rejects. He explains it was a decision based purely on a desire to give his children, a son and three daughters, the sort of normality it's hard to attain back home given his status as a British sporting and cultural icon.
Asked if he feels his motives for moving to the region were misunderstood, Farah says: “Not at all, you know, everybody can move, that's the world we live in. If that’s what suits, what makes a person happy.
“It's what I wanted to do. I've always said that when I do stop [running], I want to have quality time with my family. I was away six months of the year, away from them, and now it's about being able to give back to my kids, support them in whatever they want to do.
“So, again, if my kids are happy and they want to do something different, you just go out there and support them. But I'm enjoying myself. It's a lot easier, we can go down the street and I can be with my family, and I can do remotely what I do for my job.”
He says he is “proud to be British … proud to have grown up in the UK and have the support I did from the whole nation” during his illustrious career. “That's what makes me happy because, again, if it wasn't for all these people supporting you throughout your career, perhaps it would have been different,” he adds.
Life after athletics
Farah has been retired from running for two years and is enjoying the quiet life. Padel and amateur football keep him entertained. He might have spent his career dominating an entire generation of distance running rivals, but the closest he gets to competitive sport these days is when the Doha dads’ team needs some legs in midfield.
He finds other ways to keep busy, including promoting public health programmes, such as the initiative that will bring him to Abu Dhabi in the new year. Farah is backing RunYAS, a new mass-participation fun run expected to draw thousands of people to Yas Marina Circuit on January 11 – not least because Farah plans to take part himself.
“I'm honoured to be an ambassador for RunYAS,” he adds. “I just want to encourage people and make it as fun as possible. Everybody can take part, whether it's relay, whether it's kids or the 10K. It's amazing what they're doing and it's going to be on the F1 circuit, so sign up and get training.”
Such events are now common in the UAE, and throughout the Gulf, with leaders committed to promoting grassroots sports. At the other end of the scale, the world's most important sporting competitions are increasingly being held in the Middle East.
Hosting the Olympics seems like the final frontier for attracting marquee events to the region, and Farah feels it is now only a matter of time. “I'm enjoying myself in Doha,” he says. “The Middle East, it's so beautiful, the weather is great, and there's so many sports and events happening in the GCC. More than ever.
“Qatar has hosted the World Cup – and Saudi Arabia will host it in 2034. There are already many big events in the Middle East. I expect we will see an Olympic Games in the region soon. The sports and hospitality facilities here are incredible.”
Doha itself is home to an annual athletics Diamond League meeting and hosted the World Championships in 2019. Farah contemplated making a return to the 10,000m for the meet at the Khalifa International Stadium, but by then had fully committed to the marathon.
Mo Farah through the years – in pictures
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Mo Farah is a four-time Olympic champion and one of the greatest British athletes of all time. Here 'The National' looks back at his career. Getty Images -
Farah celebrates winning the One Hour Race with a new World Record time in September 2020 in Brussels. Getty Images -
Farah crosses the finish line at the London Marathon in 2019. Getty Images -
Farah on the red carpet ahead of receiving a 'Lifetime Achievement' award at the BT Sports Awards in 2018 in London. Getty Images -
Farah lifts his son Hussein as his twin daughters Aisha and Amani look on during a family day out in St James' Park, London, in 2018. Getty Images -
Farah reflects in between training sessions in 2018 in St Moritz, Switzerland. Getty Images -
Farah has the support of locals during a 42km training run in February 2018 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Getty Images -
Farah with wife Tania after he was awarded a Knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, in 2017. PA -
Farah holds both his 5,000m and 10,000m gold medals on the podium at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. Getty Images -
Farah celebrates after crossing the finish line to win gold in the Men's 5,000 metres at IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China, in 2015. Getty Images -
Farah holds his CBE medal at Buckingham Palace, after he received the award in 2013. PA -
Farah shows off his famous 'Mobot' celebration on the podium after winning the gold medal in the men's 5,000m at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Getty Images -
Farah celebrates with a cheque after winning a 3,000m race in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2009. Getty Images -
Farah in action in Bedford, England, in 2002. Getty Images
As it was, he had to settle for just the six world gold medals, to go with his four Olympic golds and five European golds. Not to mention a smattering of major silver and bronze medals, as well as numerous personal accolades, including a knighthood, the 2017 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award and an honorary degree from the University of Oxford.
“That makes me proud,” Farah says, when it’s pointed out that he remains the last man to claim the 5,000m and 10,000m double at both the World Championships and Olympics. “It's something that, at the time, you don't even think about it, you just go on and keep driving through, and think 'one year at a time'. But to have that record – and it was six years unbeaten – is a great record.”
Beating the odds after tough start to life
Farah’s achievements are all the more astonishing given the peril he was born into, the truth about which he revealed in a 2022 documentary The Real Mo Farah. The show recounted that he was born in Somaliland as Hussein Abdi Kahin, that his father was killed in the civil war four years later and that he was trafficked to the UK at the age of nine, under the fake name Mo Farah. He later escaped domestic servitude by alerting a teacher.
“It was something that I'd always kept inside my mind, and it stayed there for more than 30 years, and what got me through is my family and my kids,” he says.
“Seeing them, you know, that's the least I owe them, to be truthful and tell them who I am. And often, as they get a bit older, they're asking me questions [about my past]. And just for my own mental health as well, it was [a case of] letting it out. We all need a place where we can talk, we can be open and let things out that we're facing.”
A giant mural near where he grew up in Feltham, in West London, is a monument to those humble beginnings. “[The mural] means a lot,” he says. “A boy who grew up in Feltham, who came from that part of the world to make it, and become Olympic champion, a boy who came to the UK with nothing, child trafficked … and if you said all these things [to him], he would have gone, ‘wow!' I'm proud to have that support from my home.”
The glory of London 2012
For Farah, one moment from his glittering career stands above all others. The day his life changed forever: Saturday, August 4, 2012, when he, Jess Ennis and Greg Rutherford all captured Olympic gold in the space of 45 exhilarating minutes to give the London Games its signature moment and script one of the greatest nights in British sporting history.
“Super Saturday, London 2012,” Farah says instantly when asked where his mind wanders in a quiet moment. “That’s what I'm most proud of, achieving that Olympic medal in London. That Super Saturday I shared with Jess and Greg, within that 45-minute window – that was beautiful, that was iconic. It was the whole nation behind you. [After] that, if I felt down or felt like, you know, I wasn't quite motivated, I’d think back in that moment.
“There's two things that I never forget: the first time you get selected to run for your country, it's amazing, getting to put on that Britain vest, the proudest little boy that you've ever seen, that smile. And then you become a senior and to achieve what I did in London in 2012 was incredible.”
While he has put that GB vest away for good, Farah remains an ardent supporter of the team. The 800m star Keely Hodgkinson recently revealed her delight at receiving messages of support from him.
“Keely's great, honestly, she's doing incredibly,” Farah says. “I'm a big fan of her, just to see her attitude to running, how she's become, what, Olympic champion, world champion. To do it in that style, the way she goes and attacks that race, that is someone who is fearless and that's what it's about sometimes, it's putting yourself out there, and that's what she does.
“I'm a big fan of athletics, I always will be, because I've done it for so many years. Jake Wightman is another one [I like to watch], Josh Kerr, Laura Muir, all the GB athletes – you support them.”
But does he miss the thrill of competition himself? “I miss competing for my country,” he admits. “It's joyful when you put on that GB vest and you're competing for your nation. You have to be proud of that. I don't miss the training, but I miss competing and putting yourself on the line and going, 'You know what? Let's do this.'”
Asked what an average day now entails, he says: “Not the 120 miles I used to do when I was an elite athlete. I just try to stay on top of it now.
“I'm retired, with four beautiful kids. I spend quality time with them and encourage them to be active.”
That means Tuesday night football with the Doha dads, athletics and badminton with his daughters, or just relaxing at home with his three cats – Teddy, Boofer and Simba. They’re all Arsenal as well.
