"God answers my prayers everywhere except on the golf-course."
Twin Ambitions
Return to the book list for this category.
Mo Farah, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 2013. ISBN 978 1 444 77957 8
As one who has been privileged to see most of Mo Farah’s significant races over the past 5 years, I read the book with great interest. The book gives a great insight into his life with detailed accounts of the key races as well as his dedication to training.
There were two things which surprised me. The first was the difficulty of his early life and the adjustment to England. There were many struggles.
The second was the strength of his faith. The first page of the text (acknowledgements) ends with: “Finally, my thanks to Allah, for putting me on this earth, and for giving me the talent to run”. Later he develops this: “My faith helps to keep me grounded. Take Ramadan, for example. I’m not about to adopt the attitude of, ‘I’m an Olympic champion, I’m not doing that now.’ I have never looked at myself as better than other people. I expect to be judged just the same as anyone else. Islam teaches you to be thankful for the things you have, to be charitable and kind, not to be resentful over the things you don’t have. Whether something good or bad happens, you still thank Allah for everything he has given you”.
He describes the life-changing encounters with Kenyan athletes who lives to train eat and sleep while his life also accommodated time to “eat junk food, go out until past midnight, come back and play video games into the small hours”.
As someone who was not born in Britain but runs for GB he is critical of athletes who change nationality to run for Middle East countries, arguing that an athlete should be “expected to live in that country for a number of years before becoming eligible”.