Samia Yusuf Omar

Samia Yusuf Omar (1991 to 2012) was a Somali sprinter who competed in the 200 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, one of two Somali athletes at those Games. She grew up in Mogadishu and trained on a gravel track pitted with mortar craters during the Somali Civil War, despite harassment and threats from militants who opposed women in sport. In her heat she finished roughly nine seconds behind the other runners in 32.16 seconds, wearing equipment donated by the Sudanese team, and the crowd cheered her strongly. After the Games she faced threats from Al-Shabaab, left Somalia hoping to train for the 2012 Olympics, was trafficked into Libya and imprisoned, and drowned in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Italy.