An Olympian swimmer has claimed asylum in the UK to escape an arranged marriage with a 60-year-old man.
An Olympian fears she will be killed if deported from Britain after living on the streets to escape an arranged marriage. Swimmer Ayouba-Ali Sihame, 18, represented the tiny African island nation of Comoros during the London Games. But she ended up in a prison cell after fleeing the athlete’s village in a desperate bid to avoid being wed to a twice-married 60-year-old man. Her mother told her she was being sold and must give up her sporting career just days before she flew to London. She said the sportswoman’s ‘celebrity’ status had pushed up her value in the poverty-stricken strict Islamic community.