Nasra Abubakar Ali, the Somali “athlete” who gained notoriety by winning the 100-meter sprint on Wednesday at the World University Games in China in 21 seconds, has admitted that she was suffering from a sprained leg at the time of the competition.
Ali expressed surprise in a statement that, despite purportedly being hurt, she received harsh criticism for her poor performance.
Ali finished the race in about 22 seconds, about twice as long as the winner, Gabriela Silva Mourao, who finished in 11.58 seconds. Her time has since been cited as the slowest ever in the track competition.
In the video, Ms. Ali can be seen hanging around aimlessly, completely unsure of what to do, as other female athletes prance around, squat down, etc. in preparation for the race.
The other females sprint ahead as soon as the buzzer sounds, leaving Ms. Ali in their behind as she now appears to be casually jogging along unconcerned.
The Somali athlete eventually falls so far behind that she can still be seen plodding along and lazily flailing her arms around long after the other competitors have already crossed the finish line.
She crossed the finish line virtually skipping, as seen by cameras, around 10 seconds after the victor.
People are now referring to Ali, who is allegedly linked to Somali athletics vice-president Khadija Adan Dahir, as the poorest athlete ever to compete in an international tournament, claiming that she has established the “record for the slowest finish” in the competition’s history.
According to the BBC, Somalia has suspended a sports official for nepotism after permitting a “novice sprinter” to compete in a global sporting event.