An athletics governing body has come under fire after an “untrained” Somali sprinter finished 10 seconds behind elite athletes in a championship 100m race.
At the World University Games – formerly known as Universiade – in Chengdu in China, Nasra Abukar Ali finished the first round sprint in 21.81 seconds. Needless to say, she came last in her heat on Monday and did not progress to the second round.
The time would place her third on the list of fastest times set by a woman this year, albeit for 200m. She was more than ten seconds down on the heat winner Gabriela Silva of Brazil and clocked a time easily within the reach of any reasonably fit adult.
Ali, said to be 20, has no profile on the World Athletics database nor the World University Games site itself and little is known of her sprinting pedigree.
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
But while she appeared to give it her best effort, her performance has been criticised online by armchair critics venting their grievances with Somalia’s athletics governing body.
Somali commentator Elham Garaad wrote on Twitter: “How could they select an untrained girl to represent Somalia in running? It’s truly shocking and reflects poorly on our country internationally.”
But how did such an event happen?
How did Ali come to be selected?
As explained below, Ali did not need to meet a qualification time to go to Chengdu but she still came to be selected for Somalia.
It has been reported that Ali is the niece of Khadija Aden Dahir, the senior vice-president of the Somali athletics federation – who has previously shared a photo of her graduation on social media.
Somalia's Ministry of Sports Minister Mohamed Barre pledged to hold those responsible for what he termed as the "misrepresentation and embarrassment" of the country. The controversy intensified amid allegations of favouritism involving Abukar's potential familial connection to… pic.twitter.com/WxXjWWeVQW
— Somalia Live Update (@HassanIstiila) August 2, 2023
Somali journalist Hassan Istilla tweeted that the minister for sport Mohamed Barre has pledged to hold those responsible for what he termed as the “misrepresentation and embarrassment” of the country.
“The controversy intensified amid allegations of favouritism involving [Ali’] potential familial connection to Khadija Aden Dahir,” the tweet continued.
Somalia’s athletics federation could not be reached by the Standard for comment.
The rules in athletics can sometimes create unusual results
Track and field is accustomed to the occasional sub-elite performance anomaly – particularly when team points are at stake and a nation needs to field someone at risk of disqualification.
Examples include high jumper Ruth Beita running a 4x100m relay leg for Spain, javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova taking the shot put for the Czech Republic, and most recently shot putter Jolien Boumkwo clocking a 32 second 100m hurdles for Belgium.
But it is for another reason that athletes such as Ali can be allowed in.
World Athletics imposes famously hard to reach entry standards on athletes for global championships, meaning annual competitions are almost exclusively formed by the crème de la crème in track and field.
The word “almost”, though, is key as a loophole provides a way for countries and particularly smaller states to join the action.
World Athletics states: “Countries who have no male and/or no female athletes who had achieved the entry standard or considered as having achieved the entry standard or a qualified relay team, can enter one unqualified male athlete or one unqualified female athlete in one event of the championships (except the road events and field events, combined events, 10,000m and 3,000m steeplechase).”
Uner this rule countries often enter an athlete in the 100m. At the 2022 World Athletics Championships Ka’alieena Bien of the Marshall Islands finished in 14.71 seconds in her first round heat of the women’s 100m – a long, long way behind the 10.67 seconds required to win gold.
Remember the fireworks in the opening ceremony?
— Chengdu 2021 FISU World University Games (@Chengdu2021) July 29, 2023
Good night to you all!🎇🎇
📷: Xinhua#Chengdu2021 #FISUGames #ChengduFISUGames #fireworks #openingceremony pic.twitter.com/p25qlUZdY8
The World University Games rules
The World Athletics guidance above is for the Athletics World Championship and not the World University Games.
These championships have been held every two years since 1960 for athletes who are in university education at the time of competing.
The small print for Chengdu 2021 (the event was delayed due to Covid-19) states that two athletes per nation can be entered in athletics per event if they can achieve a qualification standard. For the women’s 100m, this is 12 seconds flat.
However, the regulations do state that it can allow entry for one athlete who has not achieved the entry standard. This means that someone, such as Ali, can be allowed entry.
Somalia has one of the world’s lowest GDP per capita and is considered one of the least developed nations in the world. It means opportunities to compete in sport can be limited – especially if it involves travel to distant locations such as Chengdu.
There is a proud athletics tradition within Somalia and it provided Abdi Bile, the men’s 1,500m 1987 world champion. But the nature of the World University Games specifically might exclude many from the country as only about 3 per cent of Somalia’s 17 million population have completed tertiary education, according to government data.
There was at least some better news for the country on Monday, with Hasan Ali Idoow making the second round of the men’s 1,500m.
