Born Hussein Abdi Kahin in what is now Somaliland, Sir Mohamed Farah, universally known as Sir Mo Farah, was knighted for services to athletics in the 2017 New Years Honours. He was also voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2017, beating motorcycle racer Jonathan Rea into second place and paralympian Jonnie Peacock into a narrow third, just ahead of boxer Anthony Joshua. Farah had previousy been shortlisted for the award no fewer than five times, finishing third behind cyclist Mark Cavendish in 2011.
Farah, 34, had won his third successive 10,000m gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in London the previous August, following victories in Moscow in 2013 and Beijing in 2015. Indeed, he also won the 5,000m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships in Daegu, completed the 5,000m/10,000m double in Moscow and Beijing and did likewise in two successive Olympic Games, in London in 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Farah, who accepted the award by video link from the Sir Mo Farah Athletics Track at St. Mary’s University in Twickenham, where he was once a student, apologised for being unable to attend the ceremony in person. He said, “I am sorry I could not be there. My kid has been not well.” Speaking on his behalf, former athlete Michael Johnson told the audience at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, “It’s well deserved. Over the years he’s dominated, he’s out there by himself and always got the tactics right.”
Farah did seem genuinely surprised to become the first long-distance runner since Paul Radcliffe, in 2002, to be voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year. The video link to Twickenham cut out prematurely but, clearly emotional, he told his local audience, “It is pretty amazing and hard to think about. I didn’t imagine I was ever going to win this, but anything can happen. If you work hard you can achieve your dreams.I just cannot believe I have won.” Farah bid farewell to competitive athletics in the Great North Run in September 2023, but he remains the most successful male track distance runner in history.