Mo Farah’s wife has spoken out about being the victim of alleged racist abuse, after the pair were prevented from boarding a plane.
In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Tania Farah said the incident occurred as they were preparing to board a plane home two days after Mo’s triumph in the 5,000 metres which claimed him his fourth Olympic gold medal.
Tania described how a flight attendant refused to accept that Mo had a business class ticket.
She told The Telegraph:
This woman basically humiliated him until people came forward and said: “That’s Mo Farah, the Olympic champion.”
She was mortified afterwards, but had basically yelled at him like he was a piece of shit to get back into line.
He was the only black person [in the queue] and hadn’t done anything to warrant it. I just knew she had a problem with him.
Other witnesses to the incident have claimed Tania called the Delta Airlines worker ‘fucking pathetic’ before telling her she led a ‘sad little life’.
A Delta Airlines spokesman declined to comment, but said the company ‘takes precautions to protect customer data and information’.
It has been reported that the family were finally allowed onto the plane when a second official stepped in and once aboard, they were applauded by the other passengers.
Despite Mo’s huge success, Tania also revealed she is still nervous of discussing her Muslim faith because of how others might perceive her.
She said:
I’m sometimes wary of telling people I’m a Muslim because I’m worried of how they might view me.
It sounds terrible because I should be proud and I am, but I’m also conscious of how we’re viewed nowadays.
Whether the incident was racially motivated or not, it’s sad that Tania feels uncomfortable discussing her beliefs.
