Olympics: Zamzam Farah at London 2012

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

At the London 2012 Olympics, the Somali sprinter Zamzam Farah became a crowd favourite after finishing last in her 400m heat by 27 seconds.

Zamzam had grown up in war-torn Mogadishu, where she had to dodge violence while training on the so-called ‘Road of Death’.

She competed with her body fully covered, but, after the Olympics, her family in Somalia received death threats because of what Al-Shabab considered unacceptable behaviour for a Muslim woman. She remained in the UK and gained asylum.

Zamzam Farah spoke to Ian Williams in 2021.

(Photo: Zamzam Farah about to start the 400m at the London 2012 Olympics. Credit: Olivier Morin/AFP/GettyImages)

Transcript

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0:00.0	He is Brian Cox.
0:02.8	Hello.
0:03.3	And he understands science.
0:05.3	I'm Robin Ince and I don't understand it quite so much.
0:09.0	Could it tell us something about the nature of matter?
0:11.3	Nope.
0:12.0	Okay, good.
0:14.2	Together we'll be joined by a collection of experts and non-expert guests.
0:18.6	What's going on?
0:19.8	Don't worry.
0:21.7	Taking a look at some of the most wonderful things
0:24.4	in the scientific world.
0:25.9	Science with Funny Bits, The Infinite Monkey Cage on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds. Hello, you're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:42.0	Today, we're going back to the 2012 London Olympics to hear
0:46.6	the story of Sprinter Zam-Fara. She grew up in war-torn Somalia. just reaching the Olympic Games was a huge personal achievement.
0:56.6	But taking part in the greatest show on earth would come at a cost.
1:00.5	Zam Zam spoke to Ian Williams in 2021.
1:05.0	It's the evening of Friday the 27th of July 2012
1:11.0	and excitement is building ahead of the start of the London Olympics.
1:15.0	Tonight up to a billion people around the world are expected to be watching the opening ceremony,
1:20.0	promised to be a spectacular show.
1:22.0	The crowd was amazing.
	...

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