Samia Yusuf Omar surprised the world with her performance in the 200 meters at the Beijing Olympics, where she crossed the line in last place.
But the Somali sprinter never had the chance to better her performance at London 2012, as she died in April this year while fleeing her war-torn homeland, attempting to cross to Italy on a rusty open boat.
Omar was the eldest of six children, the daughter of a fruit-seller widow whose husband was one of the countless victims of the civil war that has destroyed Somalia since 1991. Though she grew up poor, Omar’s love for sports led her to athletics, not to mention swimming and basketball.
In May 2008, she was crowned African champion in the 100 metres despite inconsistent training and harassment from hardline Islamists who objected to a Muslim woman taking part in sports. A couple of months later she landed in Beijing at the age of just 17, not expecting to be the bearer of Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s motto: “The important thing is not to win but to take part.”
Omar may have shocked the audience at the Olympic Stadium in Beijing in 2008 – she was an African champion, after all – but they applauded her solo arrival 10 seconds behind the rest of the athletes.
On 19 August last, Omar’s coach Mustafa Abdelaziz confirmed to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that the athlete had boarded an open boat from Libya in an attempt to flee to Italy and continue her career due to the lack of opportunities in Somalia. The boat sank en route, and Omar was lost.
Her mother, Abdelaziz said, had even sold a small plot of land to finance her trip and enable her daughter to fulfil her dream of living a better life away from wars and insecurity.
Omar’s dreams may have ended in the Mediterranean Sea, but her memory will surely live on in the hearts and minds of struggling athletes the world over.
