 "The Huffington Post" reported that Qadijo Aden Dahir, the Deputy Chairman for Somalia's athletics federation, had confirmed that Omar had drowned off the Libyan seaboard while trying to reach Italy from her home in Ethiopia.Qadijo added that "it's a sad death... She was our favourite for the London Olympics".Exact details of her death eventually came to light; she boarded a packed boat with 70 other people in an attempt to cross the Mediterranean Sea and reach Italy.