Fartun Abukar Omar

Fartun Abukar Omar, born in 1985 or 1986, is a Somali athlete. She represented Somalia at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, despite her country having been without a government for thirteen years at that time. She took part in the women's 100 metres race, and finished last in her heat, nonetheless achieving a personal best of 14.29 seconds. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/fun/photos/newsid_3605000/3605216.stm# "Meet the Olympics' unsung heroes"] , BBC] She was 18 at the time of the event. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950CEED6163EF932A1575BC0A9629C8B63 "SUMMER 2004 GAMES; Free at Last, Islamic Women Compete With Abandon"] , "New York Times", August 21, 2004] She had never before run a competition on a track, and drifted into the wrong lane for part of the race. [ [http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/article132295.ece "More Olympics news"] , "The Sun", August 21, 2004] ESPN noted that she was the first Muslim woman ever to represent Somalia at any Olympic Games. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1887619 "The passion of the athlete"] , ESPN, September 25, 2004]

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