As a BBC journalist calls the Somalia Olympic team PIRATES
By: Yusuf M Hasan
Somalilandsun- The Men’s 100m Freestyle heat on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 9, 2016 belonged to Ethiopian swimmer Robel Habte.
He may have finished last, but that didn’t stop Robel Kiros Habte the 24-year-old whose chubby frame was in stark contrast to the trim figures of the other swimmers.getting the biggest cheer at Rio’s Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
For Somalia – whose Neighbour Somaliland produced double Olympic champion Mo Farah – has sent only two athletes to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. Runners Maryan Nuh Muse and Mohamed Daud Mohamed are joining more than 11,000 athletes there.
For the war torn nation with the smallest number of competitors at Rio the biggest blow was the abuse heaped upon them by a BBC presenter who called them PIRATES. Did BBC radio presenter go too far with ‘racist’ Somali Olympic sailing team joke?
Who are the Somali competitors?
Mohamed Daud Mohamed, 20, will compete in the 5,000m. Born in neighbouring Kenya, he is a former footballer. The Rio games will be his first international competition.
Maryan Nuh Muse, 19, has already represented Somalia in various African and international competitions including the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in China. She will be running in the 400m.
The road to the Olympics has not been an easy one. Their training sessions at Mogadishu’s Banaadir Stadium were not helped by the lack of proper equipment and the poor state of the track. Continue reading Somali athletes’ hard road to Rio
