Samia Yusuf Omar of Somalia competes in the Women's 200m Heats held at the National Stadium on Day 11 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 19, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — An official says one of Somalia’s best female athletes drowned after the small boat she was riding in capsized off the Libyan coast during an attempted crossing to Italy for training a month ago.
The deputy chairman for Somalia’s athletics federation said Tuesday Samia Yusuf Omar was traveling from Ethiopia, where she lived, to Libya and then Italy to train for the London Olympics.
Qadijo Aden Dahir, the deputy chairman, said: “It’s a sad death…She was our favorite for the London Olympics.” Samsam Mohamed ran instead of Omar.
Omar ran in the 200 meters race at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and placed last in her qualifying heat.
Omar’s death is another setback for sports in Somalia and it is unclear why it is only being discussed weeks late. In April a suicide attack killed the president of Somalia’s Olympic committee and the head of its soccer federation.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
