Mo Farah. Is This Guy As Squeaky Clean As Many Like To Think? Part 1. The Theft in The Hotel.

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My perception of Mo Farah is a happy go lucky athlete always smiling and doing that "M" sign on his head. I know that he exceled later in life as a long distance runner (after he turned 27 in fact) and I know he performed minor miracles winning along the way. The truth was he had reached his level and was not improving. When most athletes of his age went downward, Mo went in the opposite direction.
Ever since Lance Armstrong was taken down by an Irish journalist called David Walsh , and the fall from grace of our own Irish olympic swimmer Michelle Smith I tend to be skeptical. We are a nation of begrudgers really but If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a duck. The things i have learned researching this topic is that I know Mo has a reputation for not answering the door to drug testers. Not too bad. But they stood ringing the bell for 7 hours. Hmmmm. I also know that the Nike Oregon Project was happening with Mo's rapid climb to the top. I will always remember the 2017 BBC sports personality of the year. It is a major event and to win it outright is actually no mean feat. You are up against the best sports people in the UK. Mo Farah won it. But the reception was strangely cold for their little national treasure. I've seen this before. The other athletes knew stuff we didn't. He was not liked. People were not happy with the outcome. His coach was caught on live TV calling it a f.. king joke. Have a look at 31 seconds on.

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Mo made a big mistake back in April this year. He started an argument with running legend Haile Gebrselassie. Mo was staying in Gebrselassie's hotel , the Yaya Village resort in Addis Ababa. He was there for training for the upcoming London marathon . Mo had a watch, two phones and £2,600 worth of cash stolen from his room in the hotel. His wife had given him the Tag Heuer watch as a gift. He was not a happy camper when he came back from an early morning run finding that someone had stolen items from his bag. It was his birthday that day as well so not a great start to it.
Farah text Gebrselassie about his discontent and he felt that his hotel staff were not doing enough to retrieve the stolen items especially the watch.

I have tried to contact you by telephone several times. Know that I am not responsible for what I say during the press conference in London and what influence it will have on your personality and your business. Greetings, Sir Mo.”

So the week before the London Marathon, Mo Farah was asked to launch the event. He picked up the mic at the end and launched an attack on Gebrselassie saying he had not done enough to investigate the theft.

Gebrselassie did not react kindly to threats and accusations thrown at him in the press conference.
Gebrselassie as it turned out had some news of his own. He said during Mo's stay he and his entourage had acted disgracefully and at one stage the police had to be called after Farah was accused of kicking and punching a couple in the gym in an unprovoked attack. Gebrselassie told reporters:

<Farah said to him: ‘Why are you following me?’ But the guy said he wasn’t – and that he was just doing his work, immediately Farah punched them and kicked them by foot. Especially the husband. There were lots of witnesses. He cannot deny it because there was enough people inside the gym who saw the action.”

Gebrselassie talked the police down when they arrived at the scene. They wanted to arrest him but because of Gebrselassie's stature in the city , they backed down.
Mo Farah's team stated that a fracas ensued but it was all over in a couple of seconds and both parties had since made up long ago. A storm in a teacup. There was a similar incident back in January of the similar nature.

Gebrselassie was not happy at the theft incident as 5 of his hotel staff were held in a cell for 3 weeks during the investigation. He said the hotel staff were not happy with him sticking up for Farah. Farah had not even settled the £2k bill owed to the hotel for their stay.
The war of words ensued and Gebrselassie then came out with something that was really interesting. It pricked the ears of many journalists and all of a sudden the Mo is on their radars again.
Gebrselassie said that during the time of Farah's stay , Jama Aden was refused access to the hotel. Jama Aden is a controversial coach linked to a major doping investigation in which Farah has distanced himself from. But now all of a sudden Jama Aden is back on the scene.
I think Farah wished he kept his mouth shut about the theft in the hotel because this time the sharks are circling and Farah is running out of excuses. Mo is such an interesting person that I will have to cover him in more than 1 part. There is so much to go into here. Therapeutic Use Exemption's (TUE'S) , asthma, doctors or coaches of questionable , Nike Oregon and of course the Fancy Bears.

Stay tuned.