Somalian citizens on Tuesday united in praise for the country's first ever non-runner Olympian, Ramla Ali, who despite defeat in her featherweight boxing bout against Romania's Claudia Nechita, has become the country's symbol of hope and resilience.

Ali, Somalia's first ever Olympics boxer, suffered an unanimous decision loss to Nechita, but left an indelible mark in the hearts of her country's men and women.

To many people in the Horn of African nation, the 31-year-old was not just in Tokyo to compete in the boxing competition. To them, her presence at the Olympics was proof that their dreams are valid despite the challenges they face.

As a child, Ali and her family fled war-torn Somalia as refugees following the killing of her brother.

Her family settled in London, where she got into boxing secretly for fear her family would disapprove of the sport for a Muslim girl.

Over the years, she rose from the secret trainings to become a professional boxer. Her progress has been rapid; she's signed to Anthony Joshua's 258 Management label, and is trained by husband Richard Moore and Clayton at the BoxClever Gym in Ladbroke Grove, London.

Ahead of the Tokyo games, Ali said her qualification was the result of a decade-long preparation, and that she would "put my professional boxing career on hold whilst concluding the final part of this story and represent my country at the games."

After her loss on Monday, Somalis flooded social media with messages of congratulations to their heroic boxer, others urging her to keep on training in order to return to the next Olympic Games.

Here are some of the messages posted on Twitter;

"We are proud of you Ramla. You touched the whole nations heart. You are a winner in the eyes of each one of us," said Abdalla Kassim.

"Ramla Ali did well. Thank you sis for representing us. Raise the flag everywhere you go. The whole nation is proud of you," said Abdirisak Gowfe.

"Our queen Ramla Ali, you were phenomenal and did us so incredibly proud. Many wins await you, you'll be back next Olympics and take the gold for us. Your journey has just began," said Zamzam.

"Ramla Ali preformed very well in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and represented the nation of Somalia very well. I thought she won the fight but that's only my opinion. She will rebound and be great in this sport. Much Love and respect," said Deonte Ford.

Another user wrote: "Ramla Ali did us proud Boxing makes me very anxious lol so I'm glad she's good!"