Minister issues apology and suspensions

Oh boy, Somalia’s sports minister had quite the day of facepalms and apologies! It seems they had a bit of a “Whoops!” moment when a seemingly untrained female sprinter took on the World University Games in China and turned it into a not-so-speedy affair.

The minister must have been scratching their head, wondering how on earth 20-year-old Nasra Abukar Ali ended up representing Somalia in the women’s 100-meter race. Somalia’s university union said it had not sent any runners to China as part of an official Somali team.

According to the Associated Press, they pointed fingers at the national track and field federation chairwoman, Khadija Aden Dahirm, with allegations claiming that Nasra might be a relative of hers and that’s how she got her ticket to the games. Khadija has been since been suspended. 

And let’s not forget the ultimate embarrassment — a video of Nasra’s agonizingly slow run made its way across social media. The minister couldn’t help but cringe, watching Nasra being left in the dust, crossing the finish line a whopping 10 seconds after the winner.