Athletics
'Worst athlete in history': Somalian sprinter's 'record slow finish' leads to corruption probe
An allegation that the the Somalian sprinter was sent to the World University Games because she is the niece of an official in the Somalian athletics federation is under investigation.
Nasra Abukar Ali falls behind the others immediately as the 100m sprint begins at the World University Games
A Somalian sprinter has come into international attention for all the wrong reasons after finishing a 100m lap in 21 seconds, double the time of the gold medallist, at the ongoing World University Games in Chengdu, China.
The woman, identified as 20-year-old Nasra Abukar Ali from Somalia, put forward an abysmal performance to earn massive trolling on social media. She has been called the 'worst athlete in history' and there have been claims that she set the 'record for the slowest finish' in the history of the competition.
The woman's story, however, is unlike the feel-good story of Eric Moussambani from the 2000 Olympics. There have been some allegations that the she was sent to the University Games because she is the niece of an official in the Somalian athletics federation.
Journalist Elham Garaad, who shared the clip of the event on Twitter, accused the Somalian authorities of nepotism. "That's the niece of the President of the Somali Athletics Federation. What you expecting? Nepotism; we have good athletes in Somalia but when it comes to (money emojis) is a different story," she tweeted.
Somalia's Ministry of Sports Minister, Mohamed Barre, has pledged to investigate the selection process which led to Abukar getting the nod.
Reacting to the incident, he said it was "misrepresentation and embarrassment" for Somalia.
