'A hero': Twitter comes to Mo Farah's support after bombshell statement

Twitter rushed to Mo Farah's support as the four-time Olympic champion recently revealed that he was brought into Britain illegally from Djibouti under the name of another child. Speaking to BBC in a documentary called 'The Real Mo Farah', the athlete revealed that he was born in Somaliland and was trafficked to the UK illegally as a child and his birth name was Hussein Abdi Kahin.

Farah also stated that he thought he was going to Europa to live with relatives at the age of nine. But the woman, with whom he was travelling, took a piece of paper from him that had his relatives' contact details and ripped it up. He went on to state that he was forced to do housework and childcare and was later rescued by his physical education teacher Alan Watkinson, who applied for his citizenship and it was accepted on July 25, 2000.

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Coming to his support, fans on Twitter hailed the athlete. One user wrote, "Whether he’s Sir Mo Farah or Hussein Abdi Kahin he’s a hero."

"Mo Farah breaking his story given the current climate around migrants, is such an impactful way of leveraging his voice. So many people don’t realise how hostile U.K. immigration systems truly are", another fan stated.

"It shouldn't take one of the greatest athletes whose ever raced for this country for people to humanise undocumented immigrants. But may Mo Farah's courage in speaking out allow people to see past the hate pushed by the press and politicians. We need to change the policy", another fan added.

One fan wrote, "This is just so sad - devastating. What a human being Sir Mo Farah is."

"I just read this tweet and felt genuinely stunned. It makes Mo Farah’s athletic achievements and his joy at doing so all the more impressive and uplifting", another added.

During the interview, Farah also revealed that his father was killed in the civil war and he was separated from his mother, who lives with his two brothers in the breakaway state of Somaliland, which is not internationally recognised.