Somali Sports Official Suspended After Video Shows Athlete Finishing Last In 100-Metre Race

A sports authority official in Somalia has been suspended over allegations of nepotism after a video showing an "untrained athlete" crossed the finish line in last place at an international event, according to CNN. The clip went massively viral on social media on Wednesday, prompting users to mock Somalia's athletics body and questioning the reason behind sending the novice runner to the competition in China. Users called her the worst athlete to have participated in the international games, saying she has set the "record for the slowest finish" in the history of the competition.

As per the outlet, Nasra Abukar Ali, the athlete, competed in the third heat of the first round of the women's 100-metre race at the International University Sports Federation's (FISU) Summer World University Games in China.

While other female athletes geared up for the race and took the stance before the start, Ms Ali struggled to even do that, as seen in the video.

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. pic.twitter.com/vMkBUA5JSL

— Elham Garaad ✍︎ (@EGaraad_) August 1, 2023

When the buzzer rang, the crouching athletes raced ahead, leaving Ms Ali far behind. While they finished the race close to the record time, Ms Ali took her own sweet time to reach the end, jumping on the track in between.

She finished in 21.81 seconds - more than 8 seconds slower than the second-last runner, and more than 10 seconds behind the winner of the heat, said the CNN report.

Users on Twitter, now known as X, roasted the athlete for her performance. They also took jibes at Somalian sports authority.

"Immediately I saw the potbelly, I started laughing. This girl hasn't walked fast in her life, talk more of run any kind of race," commented one user. "Wow. Somalia is known for Marathon runners if I'm not wrong?" asked another.

"It's disheartening to witness such an incompetent government. How could they select an untrained girl to represent Somalia in running?" said a third person.

After the outrage, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Somalia said it had suspended Khadijo Aden Dahir, the chairwoman of the Somali Athletics Federation. In a letter posted on Twitter, the ministry said that Ms Dahir engaged in "acts of abuse of power, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation in international arena".

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 while replying to another user.

Earlier, Somali Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Barre Mohamud "apologised" for the incident in a Facebook video, Forbes said in a report.