| Somalia at the 2008 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | SOM |
| NOC | Somali Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| inBeijing | |
| Competitors | 2 in 1 sport |
| Flag bearer | Duran Farah |
| Medals |
|
| Summer Olympics appearances (overview) | |
Somalia sent a delegation to compete at the2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing, China. The country's participation at Beijing marked its seventh in the Summer Olympics since its debut in1972 Games. The delegation included two track and field athletes: sprinterSamiya Yuusf Omar and long-distance runnerAbdinasir Said Ibrahim. Neither athlete progressed past the first round of their respective competitions. Omar's story, having trained inMogadishu during theSomali Civil War, was covered by the media at the time, and later featured in agraphic novel following her death.
Somalia participated in sevenSummer Olympics between its debut in the1972 Summer Olympics inMunich,West Germany, and the 2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing, China. The highest number of Somalis participating at any single Summer Games was seven at the1984 Games inLos Angeles, United States. No Somali has ever won a medal at an Olympics.[1]
Abdinasir Said Ibrahim was chosen to compete in theMen's 5000 metres andSamiya Yuusf Omar in theWomen's 200 metres. Somali official Duran Farah was chosen as the nation's flag bearer for theParade of Nations.[1]
Somalia was represented by one male athlete at the 2008 Games in athletics – Abdinasir Said Ibrahim, a5000 metres runner, an 18-year-old. He competed in the third and final heat of the first round, with a time of 14:21:58. This placed him in 12th and final place, over sixteen seconds behindAbdelaziz El Idrissi ofMorocco in 11th position. However, there were two runners slower than Ibrahim in other heats;Nader al-Masri ofPalestine andSoe Min Thu ofMyanmar.[1]
At the age of 16 years old, Samiya Yuusf Omar was the only female athlete competing for Somalia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Prior to the competition, she trained at theMogadishu Stadium on a gravel track pitted by mortar craters. She explained that she would be routinely harassed while training by local militia groups, fighting in theSomali Civil War, and both friends and family had been pressuring her to stop training. She explained, "Traditionally Somalis view the girls as corrupted if they join in with things like sports and music. It's because they sometimes wear transparent clothes or shorts. Therefore I have been coming under pressure from all different sides." She continued to practice following encouragement from her mother, although had not expected to be chosen for the Games due to her age and as she was from a minority ethnic group.[2]
She competed in the fifth out of six heats of the women's 200 metre competition on 19 August. She finished in a time of 32.16 in eighth and last place, nine seconds behindSouth AfricanIsabel Le Roux in seventh position.[3] Having had no funding, Omar competed in loose fitting equipment donated by theSudanese team, but despite finishing in last place, the media coverage of her meant that she was cheered loudly by the crowd as she finished.[4]
Following the Games, she received death threats upon returning to Somalia, and after being confronted byAl-Shabaab, she began to deny that she was an athlete. The organisation banned woman from participating in sports, and Omar eventually made her way to Ethiopia in order to pursue the hope of competing in the2012 Summer Olympics.[4] She attempted to make her way to Europe, travelling to Libya in September 2011. Alongside other refugees, she attempted to cross the Mediterranean by sea in 2012; she drowned while attempting to board anItalian naval vessel when the boat she was on was intercepted off the coast of Libya.[5] Omar's life story was later dramatised as thegraphic novelAn Olympic Dream: The story of Samia Yusuf Omar by German artistReinhard Kleist.[6]
| Athlete | Event | Heat | Semifinal | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| Abdinasir Said Ibrahim | Men's 5000 m | 14:21.58 | 12 | — | Did not advance | ||
| Samia Yusuf Omar | Women's 200 m | 32.16 | 8 | Did not advance | |||
