Nat'l athletics from tomorrow

Electronic board is all set to feature again after a gap of one year when the Walton 37th National Athletics Championships get underway at the Bangabandhu National Stadium tomorrow.
The electronic board, which was installed at country's premier venue during the 2010 South Asian Games, remained dysfunctional due to various technical inadequacies for the last one year. However, it has been brought back to a functional state now.
“The electronic board has already been trialled and it looks all right. We expect that the correct timing of the athletes will be reflected on the board,” said BAF's acting general secretary Manzur Morshed at a press conference yesterday.
However, a major cause for concern remains for the organisers which is the holes on the turf dug out to stage a concert during the ICC Cricket World Cup. The organisers fear that athletes may sustain serious injuries due to the holes during the three-day meet.
Some 600 athletes from 81 organisations are expected to compete for 41 gold medals though only 250 athletes from 21 organisations enrolled their names till Tuesday.
“For the first time in national athletics, we are giving cash rewards apart from the medals to the winners. The gold, silver and bronze medallists will receive Tk 2000, Tk 1000 and Tk 500 respectively,” said Manzor.
There will be cash reward for new record setters as BAF member Ibrahim Chengis has promised to give Tk 5000 to each of new record holders.
Of and estimated budget of 10 lakh, sponsors Walton Group will provide Tk 3 lakh while co-sponsors National Credit and Commerce Bank and Reflection Holdings Ltd will give Tk 1.5 and Tk 1 lakh respectively.