Samia Yusuf Omar
Samia Yusuf Omar , also written Samiyo Yusuf or Samia Yuusuf Omar , (born March 25, 1991 in Mogadishu , Somalia , † beginning of April 2012 ) was a Somali athlete . The sprinter represented her country at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing .
Life
Samia Yusuf Omar was the daughter of a fruit seller and according to contradicting information the oldest of six siblings or the youngest of 7 siblings (3 brothers, 4 sisters). Her father died in 2006 in one of the many conflicts that existed in her home country. As reported by the BBC , she lived with her mother, a former athlete, in poor conditions in the Somali capital Mogadishu and was threatened by Islamic extremists who opposed the sporting activities of women and girls.
The Somali woman, who was connected to athletics, swimming and basketball as an active athlete, became, according to media reports, the African champion over the 100-meter course in May 2008, which, however, contradicts the results lists of these championships. The BBC, for example, reports that she took part in the African Championships, but was only last in her run-up. She then took part in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing , where she was the flag bearer of her country at the opening ceremony. In the 200-meter run of the games , she was eliminated with a personal best of 32.16 seconds in the lead.
After Samia Yusuf Omar, trained by Mustafa Abdelaziz , was subjected to reprisals and threats in her home country, she went to live with relatives in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia, in October 2010 . Since the Somali embassy refused to issue their papers, a training session at the Ethiopian Athletics Federation was not possible. She decided to flee to Europe with the aim of participating in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. She received financial support from her family and relatives in Europe. In September 2011 she joined refugees and came to Libya via Sudan , where she was housed in a camp and after a first failed boat escape also spent a few weeks in prison. In April 2012, she and her aunt made another attempt to come to Europe in an inflatable boat with 62 people. During the crossing, the refugees were to be picked up by a ship off the coast of Malta . She fell into the water with a few other people in the crowd and drowned.
reception
The story of Samia Yusuf Omar between her participation in the Olympic Games in 2008 until her tragic death in 2012 was processed as a comic by Reinhard Kleist .
Web links
- Samia Yusuf Omar in the database of World Athletics (English)
- Samia Yusuf Omar in the database of Sports-Reference (English; archived from the original )
- Athlete portrait ( memento from March 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on the 2008 Olympic Games website
- Reuters: From weeds to world-class track for Somalia runner , article by Catherine Bremer for Reuters , August 8, 2008
- Beijing 2008: Somali sprinter is the secret heroine , article by Jens Hungermann in der Welt , August 20, 2008
- Oliver Zihlmann: Samia's dream of the Olympic flame. In: SonntagsZeitung from December 23, 2012 ( archive version) ( Memento from December 27, 2012 on WebCite )
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Atleta de Beijing 2008 murió en travesía hacia Europa - Trágico (Spanish) on www.futbol.com.uy from August 20, 2012, accessed on August 20, 2012
- ↑ a b Raphael Geiger: She ran after her dream ... Stern No. 45/2012, page 62ff
- ↑ Year of the father's death according to Reuters (English)
- ↑ Against the Odds: Samiya Yuusf Omar (English), BBC July 21, 2008, accessed August 21, 2012
- ↑ welt.de, 21-year-old standard bearer died on arrival at the Olympics , August 20, 2012
- ↑ The dream of Olympia
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Yusuf Omar, Samia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Yusuf, Samiya; Yusuf Omar, Samiyo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Somali athlete |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 25, 1991 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mogadishu , Somalia |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 2012 |