Somalia Just Sent A Woman Who Couldn't Outrun A 3 Legged Turtle To The China Games

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.