I stayed awake till 3:45 am this morning so I can make this post for Samia Omar
RIP Samia from Somalia. A young promising helpless girl who just wanted a future for herself and her family. This is very painful. It brings tears on my face every time I read about what happened to this innocent girl.
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Samia is the girl in this YouTube video taken during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The one who struggled but came last in the 200 Meters race. Her life ended as she struggled to get a trainer so she can improve on her chances in the coming Olympics
Samia, then 17, was one of just two athletes representing war-ravaged Somalia at the Beijing Games. She carried her country’s flag and competed in the 200-metre sprint. She ran a personal best in the first round heat but finished last, nearly ten seconds off the pace.
Footage of that race is still available and shows a runner determined to finish, although even the camera had left her behind. She crossed the finish line to a huge roar from the crowd.
Somalia was no place for a young woman from a poor background with sporting ambitions. Wracked by fighting between government forces, clan warlords and Islamist rebels, the country had no proper sports facilities. The capital’s main stadium lay in ruins and Samia suffered harassment from militants.
“She received threats from al-Shabab,” said Teresa Krug, an American journalist who spent years in Somaliland and got to know Samia and her family well.
“Her family was targeted because of her role as an athlete. The national team were seen as connected to the government.” Hardline rebels are opposed to women wearing shorts, which they deem immodest.
Samia competed in the 200-metre event at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
In 2010, Samia travelled to Addis Ababa, in neighbouring Ethiopia, where a relative lived and where there were good sports facilities. But she was unable to find a trainer or team to join and, according to Kleist, was unable to renew her visa. With Somali riven by conflict, she decided to make her way to Europe with her aunt.
She followed a well-trodden but dangerous path through Sudan, the Sahara and Libya.
“The trip she did was absolutely not special,” Kleist said in an interview with UNHCR earlier this month. “It’s something that’s happening again and again.” However, few seem to understand how fraught such journeys are.
“Sometimes refugees are on this trip for years. It’s not like they go by bus and are dropped at the beach. No, these are horrible stories, going back and forth, sent back, kidnapped.”
Samia boarded a packed boat with 70 other people in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Italy. The boat soon ran out of petrol and was adrift off the coast of Libya. When an Italian Navy vessel arrived to offer assistance, it threw ropes over the side to the refugees. In the chaos that ensued as people attempting to grab the ropes, Samia was knocked into the sea, where witnesses saw her treading water for a while, but eventually drowned
Samia died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe
Rest in Peace Samia.
Though I never met you in person but be assured that your story will inspire many young people especially women.
Your country failed you
The world failed you
If your Visa had been renewed in Ethiopia perhaps you would not have taken that dangerous trip to the Mediterranean
We are not blaming you. You did what you have to do to survive. We know this because many of us had been in your situation before
It is well sister
Now you can continue to rest
Pharm Ike Chinedu Klinsmann
pharmchinedu.com 
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