The image of Samia Yusuf Omar running for last place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics will forever be imprinted in the minds of those who saw it: the lean Somalian, wearing knee-length leggings and a baggy T-shirt, came in seconds behind her competitors. What the cheering crowd couldn’t know was what it took to get there. An Olympic Dream follows Samia’s attempt to represent her country again, this time in London.

Reinhard Kleist pictures the athlete training in one of the most dangerous cities in the world; her passage through Sudan and into Libya; and her fateful attempt to reach Europe. By telling the story of one remarkable woman, Kleist gives voice to the thousands of migrants who risk their lives daily for a better future.

About the Author
Reinhard Kleist is a world-renowned artist and graphic novelist. His graphic biography Johnny Cash: I See a Darkness has been translated into several languages and in 2007 was awarded the Peng Munich Comics Prize, as well as the Frankfurt Book Fair’s Sondermann prize. In 2008, it also received the Max und Moritz, the most prestigious award for comics in Germany. The Boxer, his graphic biography of Holocaust survivor and champion prizefighter Harry Haft, was nominated for an Ignatz Award in 2014. Kleist has also illustrated books by China Mieville, H.C. Artmann and J.G. Ballard; record covers for Terrorgruppe and Bear Family Records; and, on a large scale, various house facades around Berlin.