Somali inspiration battles against the odds

[Jacaylbaro]

"It was the happiest moment we ever had because we took our flag. We raised our flag. We felt like we were very important people."

 

The 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies hold much more sentimentality for Somalia's Samia Yusuf Omar, but it was her performance in a single 200-metre heat that sealed people's memories of her.

 

Crouching at the starting line beside the fastest women in the world, Samia Yusuf Omar had three things on her mind: winning, helping her family and bringing honour to her country.

 

She was dressed in knee-length spandex, a baggy t-shirt and shoes recently donated by the Sudanese female track team. Her wiry frame, which exposed her simple diet of mainly sugary bread and pasta, was a stark contrast to the muscular sprinters beside her.

 

Feeling confident at the beginning of the race, her distraught face at the end told a different story.

 

 

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