Nasra Ali Abukar (Nasra Cali Abuukar)

Who is she?

Nasra Ali Abukar is a Somali university student born in Mogadishu on 15 September 2004 (Wikipedia, Nasra Ali Abukar). She represented Somalia in the women's 100 metres at the 2023 World University Games in Chengdu, China (same source).

The 2023 race

She finished the 100 metres in 21.81 seconds, about ten seconds behind the winner (Wikipedia). The video of the race passed 19.8 million views on Twitter (same source). Many asked why the Ministry of Youth and Sport had picked an athlete without racing experience, and the runners Mo Farah and Abdi Nageeye criticised the selection (same source). See Mo Farah and Abdi Nageeye.

Social media users linked her selection to family ties with the head of the athletics federation, which led to accusations of nepotism (same source). The federation's chair told BBC Somali she had trained for two years, while Abukar said she had trained for one month (same source). On 3 August 2023 Abukar said she had run with a sprained leg and still finished the race (same source).

Response

The Somali athletics committee apologised, and the sports minister Mohamed Barre called the episode an embarrassment and said his ministry had not known of her selection (Wikipedia). On 2 August 2023 the Somali Olympic Committee carried out the minister's order to suspend the federation's chair over "abuse of power, nepotism, and defaming the name of the nation" (same source).

This page records events without taking sides.

In short

A Somali student whose 2023 sprint led to a public inquiry into how athletes were selected.