The Sports Minister of Somalia has launched an investigation into an athlete’s underwhelming performance at the World University Games. The Minister expressed his disappointment and described the athlete’s display as “embarrassing,” prompting the need for a thorough examination of the circumstances surrounding the lackluster showing.
The athlete, representing Somalia on the global stage, failed to meet expectations during the highly anticipated event. 20-year-old Somali Athlete, Nasra Ali Bashir has gone viral following her ‘embarrassing’ performance in the 100m race at the 2023 FISU World University Games in China.
The multi-sport event brings together university students from around the world to showcase their athletic talents. This year’s event is being held in Chengdu, China from 28 July to 8 August. In the video circulating on social media, it is clear that Ali Bashir was not at the same competing level as her peers and quickly disappeared from the video altogether.
The original video posted by @EGaraad_ already has over 63 million views and 50k likes.
“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,” the post stated.
According to the Mirror, it has also been claimed that Ali Bashir is the niece of the Somalia Athletics Federation’s senior vice-president Dr. Khadija Aden Dahir. Prompting frustrations over nepotism and corruption within the country. Because of this, Somalia’s Sports Minister, Mohamed Barre has ordered an investigation into her background.
The race was won by Gabriela Silva Mourao from Brazil, who finished with a time of 11.58 seconds. Ali Bashir finished in 21.81 seconds. In total 50 athletes competed the 100m race with the second-slowest time 13.64 seconds, over eight seconds faster.
