Roda Ali Wais ( so, Rooda Cali Wacays) is a middle-distance athlete who competed for

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

before defecting to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Ali Wais was only sixteen and the first ever

an female to represent her country in the Olympics when she competed at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

held in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, she entered the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

she came last in heat so didn't qualify for the next round.Sports Reference Profile
/ref> After the race, Ali Wais defected to Australia with the help of a Somali Australian, where she married an Australian and had children. She did not compete for Djibouti again.

References

External links

* * 1984 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Djibouti Djiboutian female middle-distance runners {{djibouti-athletics-bio-stub