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Over the years, sports has witnessed a number of athletes compete with names other than the ones they were given at birth but who are some of them in track and field?
In the world of sports, or even in other spheres of life, various people have been forced to use names that were not originally given to them for various reasons.
For athletes, a name is very important given now that it is not just their identity but also a brand. That therefore means you have to get it right at the very beginning and if there is a mess, you carry it until the end of your career, and for some, life.
This is the situation some athletes find themselves in as they are forced to compete with wrong names either due to a blunder or other circumstances, bearing the brunt for the rest of their careers.
So, who are some of the top track and field stars forced to compete using wrong names?
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10:30 - 12.12.2024
'I know his dad made a few comments'- Name dispute arises between Gout Gout's father and manager
Gout Gout's record-breaking sprint has sparked a dispute between his father and manager over how his name should be pronounced.
Gout Gout
Australian wonderkid Gout Gout continues to make headlines for his record-breaking runs but behind the scenes, controversy is simmering between his father and his manager.
The bone of contention? His name. Now, the 16-year-old has been known as Gout Gout ever since comparisons with legendary Jamaican Usain Bolt started, having lowered s number of teenage records in 100m and 200m.
However, his father Bona has come out to clarify that his son’s name is actually Guot and not Gout, saying he does not want him to be associated with a disease going forward.
“His name is Guot, it’s supposed to be Guot. When I see people called him Gout Gout I’m not really happy for him I know that Gout Gout is a disease name but I don’t want my son to be called a disease name ... it’s something that’s not acceptable,” Bona, a South Sudanese immigrant, said as per Fox Sports.
However, the teen star’s manager James Templeton has insisted a change of names is not possible at this time, perhaps cognizant of the damage that it could do to the runner, who is just beginning to build his brand, having signed his first professional contract with Adidas recently.
“Firstly, it is Gout Gout. Yeah yeah, I know there’s been a bit of discussion, and I know his dad made a few comments, but Gout Gout is how it’s gonna be,” said Templeton.
It is,however, not clear where the confusion on the youngster's name came from.
Mo Farah
Like Gout Gout, Britain’s long-distance running legend Mo Farah has been in the news recently after it emerged that he has been receiving threats and blackmail from a man whose name he took when he moved to the United Kingdom.
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19:55 - 19.11.2024
Retired but not tired! Mo Farah chases down thieves, recovers his phone, after they had stolen it & sped off in a van
Former Olympics champion Mo Farah proved that he still has it when he chased down thieves who had stolen his phone and sped off in a van until he recovered his handset.
Farah was actually born Hussein Abdi Kahin in Mogadishu, Somalia before his father died in the Isaaq Genocide when he was four years old and he then became separated from his mother.
At the age of nine, he was trafficked to the UK via Djibouti and given the name Mohammed Farah after which he was forced to work as a domestic servant.
Farah, who honed his athletics skills at Borough of Hounslow Athletics Club in west London, obtained British citizenship in July 2000 under the name Mohamed Farah, going on to compete for the country and winning four Olympics and six world titles in 5,000m and 10,000m.
It has recently emerged that the man whose name he took has been hounding him and demanding for money after getting hold of the legendary athlete’s mobile number.
Cybrian Kotut
Kenyan marathoner Cybrian Kotut claimed second place at this year’s Berlin Marathon in September, a great return from what was just his second major race.
Kotut clocked 2:03:22 to finish second behind Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha, who won in 2:03:17, as his Kenyan compatriot Haymanot Alew (2:03:31) finished third.
However, what brought confusion after his race was the spelling of his first name as a number of publications called him Cyprian while others went with Cybrian.
Indeed, there is still confusion online over his real identity with the two names both used to refer to him.
However, while his official name is Cybrian Kotut, the marathoner’s real name was Cyprian Kotut until an administrative error messed it up.
Speaking to CNN journalist Larry Madowo following his second place in Berlin in September, Kotut admitted that he is actually Cyprian but a mistake during registration caused a typo, forcing him to be called Cybrian professionally.
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