insurance of body parts !! - Mo Farah the athtlete

On Sunday 16 June, Soccer Aid for Unicef took place at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. Over £6.7 million was raised on the night as a star-studded line-up of football legends and celebrities battled it out on the pitch so that more children can grow up happy, healthy and able to play. The Soccer Aid World XI team were led to victory as they beat England 3-1 following a 2-2 draw in 90 minutes.   The game  went to a dramatic penalty shootout.  England’s Ben Shephard scored the first goal in the penalty shoot-out but a miss from Mark Wright and a save from Nicky Byrne denying Lee Mack left England wanting. This is no post on the game or the charity .. .. but on ‘insurance’ – ‘insurance of body parts’ to be specific.

Mo Farah is a famous distance runner from Britain.  Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah, is the 2012 and 2016 Olympic gold medallist in both the 5000 m and 10,000 m. Farah is the second athlete in modern Olympic Games history, after Lasse Virén, to win both the 5000 m and 10,000 m titles at successive Olympic Games. He also completed the 'distance double' at the 2013 and 2015 World Championships in Athletics. He was the second man in history, after Kenenisa Bekele, to win long-distance doubles at successive Olympics and World Championships, and the first in history to defend both distance titles in both major global competitions – a feat described as the 'quadruple-double'.   In 2017 he indicated his intention to switch wholly to road racing following victory at his final track race, the 2017 IAAF Diamond League 5000 metres final. His running style has been described as "bouncy" and tactical.

Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, to an Isaaq Somali family from Gabiley, Somaliland, Farah went on to be based in London and ran for Newham and Essex Beagles athletics club, training at St Mary's University College, Twickenham from 2001 to 2011.  Farah is the most decorated athlete in British athletics history, with ten global titles, and was the first British athlete to win two gold medals at the same world championships.

SIR MO Farah was in news recently as he moved his family out of their £1.3m London home after neighbours complained his kids were running riot - throwing apples and damaging plants.  Reports stated that letters were sent to Sir Mo and other parents in the gated development over claims kids were making residents' life "hell". Angry neighbours complained of constant screaming, apples thrown at windows and plants being trampled.

This is no post on Mo Farah’s accomplishments or neighbours treating him – but on insurance – ‘insurance of body parts’ not prevalent in India.

A web search revealed that a chocolate tester for the U.K. confectioner Cadbury has had her taste buds insured for £1 million ($1.33 million)[Rs 8.50 crores approx.] Hayleigh Curtis, a “chocolate scientist” in the Cadbury Innovation team, has had her taste buds insured with specialist insurers Lloyd’s of London. Curtis’s taste buds are incredibly important to her job in order to create new chocolate innovations and maintain the quality of Cadbury’s products. “Taste buds are as important to Cadbury as legs are to a top footballer and it seems like Hayleigh has been doing a great job creating new flavours with the team,” Jonathan Thomas from Lloyd’s of London said in a press release. “We’ve insured some interesting assets over the years, and this certainly adds to the mix.” Curtis is not alone in having a piece of her body insured. Here are nine more expensive insurance policies taken out against body parts. Heidi Klum has insured her legs for $2 million (each!), James Bond star Daniel Craig has his body insured for $9.5 million and Jennifer Lopez thinks her famous derriere is worth an incredible $27 million. In 2011, the supermodel and Project Runway host confirmed her legs were insured for $2 million. Klum told the host of Extra, Maria Menounos, during an interview that her left is not worth as much as her right leg due to a scar caused by falling on a glass. Lloyd’s of London insured the “Ugly Betty” actress’s teeth in 2007. The insurance product was paid for by Aquafresh as part of an ad campaign starring Ferrera. “It’s very flattering to have my smile insured. It’s not something that I ever imagined happening,” Ferrera said on the insurer’s website.

The runner - Mo Farah insured his legs for £7m over fearing that  bad tackle while playing in Soccer Aid for Unicef charity match could wreck his Tokyo Olympic bid. The four-time Olympic gold medallist, who is hoping to add to his collection at the Tokyo 2020 Games, worried that  his training could be disrupted if he suffered an injury in the charity football match.  According to The Sun, the 36-year-old gave television bosses at Endemol a headache when insurers initially refused to cover him.  But after being persuaded the match at Stamford Bridge is raising money for a good cause, executives agreed to insure his legs for the seven-figure sum. Farah is among a host of sports stars and celebrities took part in the annual charity match on Sunday night.  The long-distance champion lined up for the England team at Chelsea's home stadium alongside John Terry, David Seaman, Robbie Williams and others.  They played  Rest of the World XI containing the likes of Didier Drogba, Usain Bolt, Niall Horan, Eric Cantona and Roberto Carlos.

Interesting !

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

9^th July 2019.