Somalia's sports minister apologised and suspended their national track and field federation's chairwoman for sending an untrained and woefully uncompetitive female sprinter to the World University Games.

The runner, 20-year-old Nasra Abukar Ali, took morethan 20 seconds to finish the 100m race, drawing widespread attention and embarrassment for the nation.

Despite her last-place finish, she displayed a little skip in the air as she crossed the finish line.

The sports ministry said they did not know how Ali was selected to compete in the women's 100m race in Chengdu, China on Tuesday.

Furthermore, allegations arose that she may have been given the opportunity to compete due to her relationship with the National Athletics Federation chairwoman, Khadija Aden Dahir.

The ministry has directed the Somalia Olympic Committee to suspend Dahir pending further investigation.

Somalia's university union denied sending any runners to China as part of an official Somali team, raising questions about how Ali ended up taking part in the event in the first place.

Videos of her slow run circulated on social media, causing further embarrassment for the country.

In her qualifying race, Ali was left far behind by the other runners and finished about 10 seconds after the winner.

Compiled by staff writer