Somalian runner clocks ‘slowest-ever’ 100m time as she finishes 10 seconds behind other athletes at the World University Games in China
- Nasra Ali Abukar ran the women’s 100 metres race in a sluggish 21.81 seconds
- She was left trailing by fellow competitors and finished now even in camera shot
- Her performance went viral amid nepotism claims in home country of Somalia
A Somalian ‘sprinter’ competing at the World University Games in Chengdu, China, has gone viral after running the women’s 100 metres in embarrassingly slow fashion.
Nasra Ali Abukar ran the distance in 21.81 seconds, some 10 seconds behind the leaders and was seen to skip across the finish line having been left well behind by fellow competitors.
It was claimed the time was the ‘slowest-ever’ in international competition.
A clip of the race was posted online and sparked questions as to why Somalia would send an athlete who was so underprepared to a major event.
It was claimed Abukar is actually the niece of Somali Athletics vice-president Khadija Adan Dahir and her selection for the competition in China was purely down to nepotism.
A ‘sprinter’ from Somalia (left) clocked the ‘slowest-ever’ 100metres time at the World University Games in Chengdu, China
Nasra Ali Abukar crossed the finish line alone having clocked a sluggish 21.81 second time
Questions were asked on social media as to why Somalia sent such an underprepared athlete to a major international event
Elham Garaad, who posted the viral video on Twitter, wrote: ‘The Ministry of Youth and Sports should step down. It’s disheartening to witness such an incompetent government.
‘How could they select an untrained girl to represent Somalia in running? It’s truly shocking and reflects poorly on our country internationally.’
In a follow-up tweet, Garaad said: ‘That’s the niece of the President of the Somali Athletics Federation. What [are] you expecting?
‘Nepotism; we have good athletes in Somalia but when it comes to [money emoji] is a different story.’
She also posted a screengrab of a Facebook post from Dahir congratulating her niece on being selected for the University Games.
Newsweek reported that the Somali Athletic Federation has launched an investigation into why Abukar was selected to race, with the runner out of camera shot at the finish because she was so slow.
It isn’t the first time Somalia has been left red-faced in the sport. In 2016, Maryan Nuh Muse ran a sluggish time of 1:10.14 in her 400m heat at the Rio Olympics.
However, she was hailed as an inspiration for defying incredibly tough conditions in her country to compete at the highest level of the sport.
There were calls for those responsible for sending the athlete to the event to stand down
It was also claimed that Abukar was the niece of Somalia’s athletics federation president
At the London 2012 Olympics, Zamzam Mohamed Farah, who was inspired by the British multiple gold medallist Mo Farah, clocked a time of 1:20.48 in the 400m heats – about 30 seconds behind the winner.
News reports at the time exposed the shocking conditions in which Zamzam trained, including a route called ‘the road of death’ where at times athletes dodged bullets fired at them.
During the 2012 Games, she was subjected to death threats on social media from people who believed women should not compete in sport.
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