Somalia apologizes for slowest 100m athlete in history
On the 100m race in Chengdu, China over the weekend, Abukar was far behind his opponents and finished in the end with a time of 21 seconds 81, 10 seconds slower than Brazilian athlete Gabriela Silva. According to British newspaper Sportmail, this is the worst 100m running achievement recorded in the history of international competitions.
Video recording the race has been circulating on social media since the evening of July 31, prompting criticism from Somalia's Ministry of Youth and Sports for a runner who lacked both experience and preparation for a big event.
According to Canadian Running Magazine, Abukar's running record remains a mystery, as she has no record on the World Athletics database nor on the FISU website. Abukar is said to be the granddaughter of the vice president of the Somali Athletics Federation, Khadija Adan Dahir, and her selection to participate in the tournament in Chengdu this summer is purely a "son of father".
Before the storm of criticism, Somalia's Ministry of Youth and Sports Barre Mohamud publicly apologized and described the incident as "a disgrace to the Somali people". The ministry also suspended the vice-president of the Athletics Federation Khadija Adan Dahir "under the pretext of abuse of power" pending the conclusion of the investigation.
Elham Garaad, who posted a video of the race going viral on Twitter, wrote: "Somalia Ministry of Youth and Sports should resign. Disappointing to see such incompetent agency. How can they choose one untrained girl to represent Somalia? It's really shocking and doesn't reflect well on our country on the international stage."
But in reality, Abukar does not need to meet any specific criteria or achievements to attend FISU. According to the rules of the World Athletics Federation and FISU, countries with no male or female athletes who meet the entry criteria can send unqualified male or female athletes to participate in one event, except for one event. certain content such as 10,000m, obstacle course or longer distance running.
The lack of strict qualification requirements for countries that may not be strong in running allows the country's athletics federations to recruit athletes who do not meet the entry standards for certain tournaments.
A similar situation happened in the women's 100m event at Tokyo 2021. At that time, Houleye Ba represented Mauritania as an "unqualified athlete". She had a personal best (PB) of 15 seconds 26, but finished last.
This rule is often applied to countries with few international representation, although the performance of their athletes is significantly inferior to the top candidates. The controversy surrounding Abukar's record as the slowest 100m in history has raised important questions about the honesty and transparency of the selection process.
