The Scotsman

Farah: Poverty fuelled sports glory

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Mo Farah has said growing up in poverty gave him the boost he needed to become a champion distance runner.

The athlete, who will compete for Great Britain in next month’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, grew up in Somalia, sharing a basic shack with seven other people.

But asked if he would have been a double Olympic cham- pion if he had not lived in such conditions, he said: “No. I think that gave me a massive boost. It made me realise in life, you have to work for it.”

Farah said of his childhood: “As long as you had food in your mouth and you were breathing, that was fine. That was a good life.

“There was nothing more. No opportunit­ies.” 0 Mo Farah said he got a huge boost in his running

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