Bangladesh's fastest man Mezbah Ahmed will carry the national flag during the inaugural ceremony of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships, which gets underway today at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, India.

The Bangladeshi athletes were afforded a rare opportunity to properly prepare for the meet in India over the past two weeks as the Indian Athletic Federation provided training facilities to neighbouring athletes. Approximately 18 athletes will compete in 13 different events which includes four events in the women's section. Despite there being hardly any hope of winning a medal from the four-day tournament, the athletes are focused on simply improving their individual bests.

The Bangladesh contingent consists of Mezbah, Shah Imran (100m sprint), Shariful Islam and Masud Rana (200m sprint), Ismail Hossain and Al Amin (Long Jump), Masud Khan (110m hurdles), Khandokar Kibria and Kamrul Islam (800m sprint), Sajjad Hossain (Javelin Throw), Mahfuzur Rahman (High Jump), Hedayet Hossain (Hammer Throw), Alamgir Hossain (800m run), Sohagi Akter and Susmita Ghosh (100m sprint), Sumi Akter (800m run), Jesmin Akter (100m hurdles) and Sumi, Sohagi, Susmita and Jesmin (4X100m Relay).