| Somalia at the Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IOC code | SOM |
| NOC | Somali Olympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| Medals |
|
| Summer appearances | |
Somalia first participated at theOlympic Games at the1972 Summer Games inMunich,West Germany; theSomali Olympic Committee being recognised by theInternational Olympic Committee shortly prior. The nation has sent athletes to compete in mostSummer Olympic Games since then, boycotting in1976 due to the inclusion ofNew Zealand, and in1980 when it joined with theAmerican-led boycott. It also did not compete in1992 due to the ongoing effects of a famine. Somalia entered their largest contingent of athletes at the1984 Summer Olympics, a total of seven.
Due to the ongoingSomali Civil War, athletes have subsequently had difficulty training in Somalia and many have left to represent other nations, such asMo Farah who has won four gold medals representingGreat Britain. No athlete representing Somalia has yet won a medal at an Olympics, nor taken part in aWinter Games.
Abroad, Somali-born athletes have particularly excelled inlong-distance running. Somali-born long-distance runners currently representing other countries include:
TheSomali Olympic Committee was founded on 12 December 1959, inMogadishu, byAli Omar Scego as head of the organisation. It had been hoped that Somalia would be able to take part in the1960 Summer Olympics inRome, Italy, but after Scego was posted as Somalia's ambassador to Belgium, based inBrussels, those who succeeded him were unable to take the nation to the Games and the Committee was entirely abandoned.[1]
The idea was resurrected in 1971, with the national associations of athletics, basketball and football signing up under the Committee's charter. Shortly prior to the1972 Summer Olympics, it was recognised by theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC), allowing it to compete.[1]
Somalia made theirSummer Olympic debut at the 1972 Games inMunich,West Germany, sending three athletes;[2]Mohamed Aboker,Jama Awil Aden in track events andAbdullah Noor Wasughe in thehigh jump.[3]
Somalia was eligible to compete at the1976 Summer Olympics inMontreal, Quebec, Canada, but joined with 28 other countries ina boycott. This was after the IOC allowedNew Zealand to participate in the Games, despite thebreach of theinternational sports boycott of South Africa by the nation's rugby union team shortly before the Olympics. The majority of the 28 countries in the Olympic boycott were African nations.[4] Prior to the1980 Summer Olympics inMoscow,Soviet Union, Somalia once again joined in with aboycott of the Games, this time led by theUnited States over the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan during theSoviet–Afghan War.[5]
When Somalia sent a contingent to the1984 Summer Olympics, it was their largest group of competitors so far with seven male athletes.Ahmed Mohamed Ismail finished in 47th place in themarathon, whileAbdi Bile reached the second round of the800 metres.[6]Ibrahim Okash went a round better in the800 metres at the1988 Summer Olympics inSeoul,South Korea, reaching the semi-finals of the competition.[7]
Although Somalia registered athletes for the1992 Summer Olympics inBarcelona, because of the ongoing famine, it did not participate.[8] They returned once again at the1996 Summer Olympics inAtlanta, United States, where they entered four male athletes.[9] That year, Bile recorded the best performance by any Somali athlete at the Olympics so far, finishing sixth in the final of the1500 metres.[8]
From the2000 Summer Olympics inSydney, Australia, onwards, Somalia reduced its contingent at each Games down to two competitors, one male and one female. This change meant that Somalia fielded female athletes for the first time,Safia Abukar Hussein becoming the first women to compete for her country at the Olympics.[2] This still caused some issues due to the perception of women in athletes within Somalia, with Hussein's own father rejecting her for a period over fears that it would prevent her from finding a husband. However, they reconciled prior to the Games.[10]
The2004 Summer Olympics inAthens, Greece, was marked by controversy for Somalia. AfterFarah Weheliye Addo, the president of the Somali Olympic Committee, was found guilty of embezzling funds from theassociation footballgoverning bodyFIFA. In response, FIFA banned him for ten years and complained to the IOC. In support, the IOC removed the accreditation for Addo, therefore banning him from the 2004 Games.[11]
One of the Somali entrants at the2008 Summer Olympics received a great deal of international media attention.Samia Yusuf Omar was a 16 year old sprinter, who had trained at theMogadishu Stadium and around the city. The determination she showed despite the difficulty and harassment she received by local militia groups in the civil war was described as inspirational in the press. Following the Games, where she came last in her heat of the200 metres in donated equipment, she fell out of the public eye because she was not interested in being involved in the media.[12]
Because of the ongoing Civil War, many Somali athletes have left the country and now compete under the flags of other nations.[8] The most prominent example of this came at the2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom, whenMo Farah won two gold medals forGreat Britain; first themen's 10,000 metres on "Super Saturday",[13][14] and then for the5000 metres, during the following week.[15]
It had been hoped that Omar would return at the London Games, but when she returned to Somalia after the 2008 Olympics, she was threatened by Islamic militant groupAl-Shabaab, and no longer admitted she was an athlete. She wished to compete at the 2012 Games, and so left Somalia and travelled first to Ethiopia,[12] then north to Libya,[16] where she was trafficked and later drowned off the coast while attempting to cross theMediterranean Sea to Italy, where she hoped to find a coach.[17][18] Qadijo Aden Dahir, the Deputy Chairman for Somalia's athletics federation, said that "it's a sad death... She was our favourite for the London Olympics".[19]
Somalia continued to send a one male and one female athlete to the 2012 and the2016 Summer Olympics.[20][21] Meanwhile, Farah was once again successful at the 2016 Games, winning two further gold medals forGreat Britain.[22]
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 Munich | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1976 Montreal | did not participate | |||||
| 1980 Moscow | ||||||
| 1984 Los Angeles | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1988 Seoul | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1992 Barcelona | did not participate | |||||
| 1996 Atlanta | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2000 Sydney | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2004 Athens | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2008 Beijing | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2012 London | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2020 Tokyo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2024 Paris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 2028 Los Angeles | Future | |||||
| 2032 Brisbane | ||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| Men | |
|---|---|
| Women | |
| Mixed | |
