Zahra Bani (born 31 December 1979) is a

Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somali ...

-born

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

javelin thrower.

Biography

Bani was born in 1979 in

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port ...

, the capital of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

, to an Italian father and a Somali mother. In 1989, she moved to

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

with her family and started playing volleyball. She soon thereafter discovered her specialty: javelin. Bani's personal best throw is 62.75 metres, achieved at the 2005 World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. However, since 2005, she has been suffering from health problems, which have significantly hampered her athletic performances. Bani ranks second on the all-time Italian list behind

Claudia Coslovich Claudia Coslovich (born 26 April 1972 in Trieste) is a former Italian athlete who specialized in the javelin throw. Her personal best was 65.30 metres, achieved in June 2000 in Ljubljana. She is a member of the Slovene ethnic minority of Friuli ...

Achievements

National titles

Bani won 17 national championships at individual

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

level. *

Italian Athletics Championships The Italian Athletics Championships ( it, Campionati italiani assoluti di atletica leggera) are the national championships in athletics, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera. The first edition, four races only, w ...

**Javelin throw: 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2017, 2021 (8) *

Italian Winter Throwing Championships The Italian Athletics Championships ( it, Campionati italiani assoluti di atletica leggera) are the national championships in athletics, organised every year by the Federazione Italiana di Atletica Leggera. The first edition, four races only, w ...

**Javelin throw: 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017 (9)

Notes

References

External links