Crying last-placed runner is instant toast and darling of Cambodia

Overnight celebrity: Cambodia’s Bou Samnang poses for photos with her fans after her famous run in the 5,000m where she finished six minutes behind the winner and was seen crying in the rain (pic, below) at the finish line. — AFP

EVERYONE in Phnom Penh, it seems, wants a selfie with Bou Samnang.

The Cambodian runner has become a star of the SEA Games since her gritty performance in the women’s 5,000m . Although she came last, her determination to finish the race under torrential rain charmed the country and even won plaudits from Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Videos of her crying after crossing the line have gone viral.

“I can say now I’m famous,” the 20-year-old said at the stadium, where passers-by were lining up for photos with her.

“Although I lost, they support me from the bottom of their hearts.”

This week’s race was not the first time Bou Samnang has had to show determination, but is the latest step on an athletics journey that started on ill-equipped dirt tracks and has defied health problems and bereavement.

“I knew I was losing. The rain was so heavy,” said the Phnom Penh native, whose mother is a housewife and whose father died in an accident a few years ago.

“I had the right to abandon the race, but first I have a duty to represent Cambodia. So I did not give up.”

When she first started running while at secondary school on the capital’s outskirts, facilities were spartan.

“We lacked everything to support training,” she said. “I had only one pair of shoes, almost no sports shirts. We just trained on normal surfaces, like flat concrete or sometimes just on the dirt ground.”

She joined the national athletics programme in 2016 and started to receive more support, before making the main squad five years later. She spent much of 2022 in China training for her country’s first ever home Games.

But she has long suffered with anaemia, or a lack of red blood cells, and was feeling weak on the day of her big race.

“My trainer said because of my health condition I should not do it. But because of the nation, I committed myself to the race,” she said.

The eventual winner was Vietnam’s Thi Oanh Nguyen, one of the region’s finest athletes. Five minutes later, after the heavens opened, Bou Samnang was still going.

“I tried to reach the finish line because I wanted to show people that in life, even though we go a bit slow or fast, we will reach our destination all the same,” she said. “So we should not give up. We should try our best.”

The rain-sodden Cambodian finished in 22 minutes and 54 seconds, just under six minutes after Oanh.

“When I reached the finish line, I was quite disappointed, because I did not win, but I was also happy; although they knew I lost the race, (supporters) encouraged me. I did not expect the video to go viral, I really thank them for their support.”

Moved by her spirit, many officials and bodies have given Bou Samnang cash bonuses since the race, including Hun Sen, who said he gave her a US$10,000 (RM44,624) reward “to encourage perseverance”.

“I will use the money to support my family,” she said, adding that she would like to pay off her mum’s debts, as well as fund her own education.

She plans to enrol in university this year, in IT (Information Technology) and law, while continuing her athletics career. Some schools have already offered scholarships.

But she will still be an athlete, with eyes on the next SEA Games in Thailand.

“In the future, if there is an event in Thailand or other countries, I will try my best for the country,” she said. — AFP