A Somali sprinter’s ’embarrassing’ 22-second 100m run has drawn a government apology after her performance sparked an online backlash.
Nasra Abubakar Ali’s showing at a university games competition in the Chinese city of Chengdu saw her finish some 10 seconds behind the race’s winner, who recorded a time of 11.58 seconds.
Footage of the race showed Ms Abubakar Ali being left behind by competitors almost as soon as the starting gun was fired.
Within six seconds, she was trailing to such an extent that she disappeared from the camera frame as the other athletes – led by a Brazilian contestant – sprinted towards the finish line.
As the competitors caught their breath, Ms Abubakar Ali appeared to jog the final few metres, before giving a cheerful skip as she crossed the line after 21.81 seconds.
