Azharul new king of track
NEW KING & QUEEN OF THE TRACK: Azharul Islam (L) of Bangladesh Army crosses the finishline while Shamsun Nahar Chumki (R) of Ansar and VDP runs on way to winning their respective 100m races in the Walton 35th National Athletics Championships at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. PHOTOS: STAR
Azharul Islam became the new king of the track while Shamsun Nahar Chumki regained her crown as they won the most coveted 100m events in the Walton 35th National Athletics Championships at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
It took only two years for the Bangladesh Army's sprinter Azharul to achieve the 'fastest man' laurel when he reached the touchline with 10.9 seconds, well ahead of his challengers Imran Bhuiyan (11.1sec) and Khalilur Rahman (11.2sec).
"I'm delighted because it's a big achievement for any athlete to become the country's fastest man. It's a dream come true for me," said an excited Azharul, a 22-year-old athlete from Gazipur.
"I have a dream to participate in the Olympic Games. I also want to achieve something in the regional competitions. This achievement helped me a lot to improve my timing so that I can achieve something for my country in international competitions," he added.
Azharul said that the timing could have been much better if he had time to make a fresh run in the 100m race.
"I had to participate in heats and final of the other events before participating in the 100m sprint. It was a hectic schedule because of the two-day competitions," opined Azharul, who also won the gold in the 400m sprint with the timing of 50.2sec. Azharul also took part in the 4x400m relay and 4x100m relay to secure the gold for Bangladesh Army.
On the other hand Chumki dethroned Nazmun Nahar Beauty to become the fastest women after a six-year break. Chumki clocked 12sec to achieve the feat while Beauty reached the touchline in 12.3sec to finish second.
"It's something special that I beat Beauty who is a very good athlete. I got back my confidence due to hard training for the SAF Games and Indo-Bangla Games. Now I'm looking forward to run in the Olympic competitions," said Chumki, who earlier achieved the laurels in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Bangladesh Army retained their supremacy in the national competition as they finished with 17 gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze medals while Bangladesh Ansar & VDP followed them with 8 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze medals.
The gold medal winners in the final day are Golam Mawla (Bangladesh Army, marathon), Asadul Islam (BDR, 110m hurdles), Shafiqul Islam (Bangladesh Navy, 20km walking), Shaeen Alam (Bangladesh Army, 10,000m running), Justna Begum (BJMC, discus throw), Nurjahan Malik (Ansar & VDP, high jump), Mohammad Afsar (Bangladesh Army, hammer throw), Rawshan Ara Putul (Ansar & VDP, 1500m), Selim Miah (Bangladesh Army, 1500m), Humayun Kabir (Bangladesh Navy, polevault), Khurshida Khatun (Ansar & VDP, 400m sprint), Abdur Rahman (Bangladesh Army, triple jump), Azharul Islam (Bangladesh Army, discus throw), Mujahid Khan (Bangladesh Army, 3000m steeple chase).
Comments