Remembering the Somali Olympian who drowned in the Mediterranean trying to flee to Europe

Alessandra Kelley

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...mar-the-olympic-runner-who-drowned-in-the-med

In the 2008 Olympics Samia Yusuf Omar, a 17-year-old Somali woman in a t-shirt and donated shoes ran against sleek lycra-clad athletes in the 200 meter dash.

She did not place in the race, although she was cheered for her determination.

When Robinson interviewed Omar after the race the runner explained, embarrassed, that she would have preferred to be applauded for her performance instead of her effort. Seeing the quality of the other athletes in Beijing that year, she had become keenly aware of how few training resources were available to her back home.

Returning to Somalia, Omar pushed for better conditions and training for Somali athletes. But Somalia was coming under the influence of the militant Islamist group, al-Shabaab.

“Of the era of al-Shabaab, it was the worst,” said Leila Samo, a former team-mate of Omar’s, who now plays handball for Somalia. “A girl could not run, could not even walk without wearing heavy robes.”

The group not only banned all sports in the areas they controlled across southern Somalia, but pressured athletes to join their ranks.

By October 2010, after being forced to relocate to a camp for displaced persons outside the capital, Omar decided to leave Somalia. It had become too difficult for her to train and she dreamed of finding a coach in Europe. By late 2011 she was in Libya, having paid smugglers to transport her across from Ethiopia and up through Sudan.

Her sights still firmly fixed on competing at the summer Olympics, Omar boarded a flimsy, overcrowded boat in April 2012, hoping to arrive in Italy and find the training she so desired.

She did not make it. The boat ran out of fuel and drifted. When it was finally rescued, Omar was one of dozens of people accidentally knocked into the water.

Samia Yusuf Omar drowned in the Mediterranean like thousands of other refugees have attempting to reach Europe, to flee tyranny and oppression. She was 21.