Somalia’s sports minister suspended the chairwoman of the national track and field organization on Wednesday after a seemingly untrained female sprinter represented the African country at the World University Games in China and finished a 100-meter race in more than 20 seconds.
Mohamed Barre Mohamud, Minister of Youth and Sports, said his ministry had no idea how Nasra Abukar Ali, 20, was chosen to race in the women‘s 100 at the student games in Chengdu on Tuesday.
Separately, the ministry directed the Somalia Olympic Committee to suspend national athletics federation head Khadija Aden Dahir amid allegations that Nasra Abukar was a relative of hers and was given the opportunity to compete in the games as a result
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Somalia’s university union stated that no runners had been sent to China as part of an official Somali squad.
A video of Nasra Abukar’s agonizingly slow sprint was posted on social media, and Mohamud stated the performance was embarrassing for Somalia.
Nasra Abukar was quickly passed by the other runners in her qualifying race and finished roughly 10 seconds after the winner.
