Young runners from the war-torn east African nation of Somalia have made tangible progress in this week’s Arab Athletics competition held in the United Arab Emirates, the Somali Athletics Federation revealed here over the weekend.

Senior Vice-president Khadija Aden Dahir who spoke to reporters in Dubai said that in comparison with their previous achievements the Somali athletes have now made a big change despite their circumstances of living a chaotic country where everything is very difficult.

Somali Athletics Federation 2^nd Vice-president and Somali NOC Athlete Performance enhancement manager for the 2012 London Olympic Games Abdullahi Mohamed Saneey told reporters that the performance of Somali Athletes was very much admired and many fans at the stadium were jubilant at the progress made by the Somali boys.

“Mohamed Hassan Teyow 1500m runner came 6th out of the 22 member nations of the Arab League, while 400m runner Abdalla Mohamed Hussein came 7th and 800m runner Abdulahi Bare Kuloow entered the 5th stage of his event–that was really a good progress” Saneey noted.

Abdirahman Ali Mire, a representative from the Somali community in UK and one of the great contributors to Somali sport added that the performance of the Somali athletes revived the country’s hopes to reach a higher level in the upcoming All Arab Games in Doha and in next year’s Olympic Games in London.

“I was at the stadium watchingthe competition and I congratulate all Somalis wherever they are for the great achievement that our sport has fully recovered and we are going on the way toward a higher development,” Mire told journalists alongside the Somali Athletics Federation authorities.

Somali NOC First Vice-president and head of delegation for the 2012 London Olympic Games, Duran Ahmed Farah added that huge preparations are underway, emphasizing that Somalia will show a wonder in the upcoming Arab Games and also in next year’s Olympic Games.

“I don’t think that there is any country in the world suffering from such huge problems we are currently undergoing, but despite all difficulties Somalia is competing with the rest of the world in terms of sports,” the Somali NOC senior vice president for international relations noted.

Somali NOC Media Department