Championships end with Sohagi's record
The Walton National Athletic Championships ended on a high note as Sohagi Akter secured a new national record in the women's 200m sprint event on the concluding day at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Sohagi of Bangladesh Navy clocked 25.06 seconds (electronic time) to bag the gold medal as well as eclipse the previous best of 25.13, which was registered by Zakia Sultana of BKSP in 2013.
The achievement meant that this, the 42nd edition of the championships, produced four new records after the feats of Mohammad Ismail of Bangladesh Navy in 100m sprint, Zahir Rayhan in 200m sprint and Mohammad Ibrahim of Bangladesh Navy in shot-put.
“I had belief [in myself] to produce a good result and win the gold medal but I never thought of making a new record,” said Sohagi, who was eliminated after making a false start in the last National Athletic Championships in December, 2017.
“Now I feel really good about creating a new record,” the sprinter continued.
It could be mentioned here as well that Sohagi won a gold medal in 200m sprint at the Summer Athletic Championships last July.
Zahir Rayhan also got a double delight, bagging the 200m sprint gold medal with a time of 21.78 seconds. He had earlier won a gold medal in 400m run with a record breaking performance on Friday.
“I was a bit tired after running the 400m run yesterday [Friday]. There was a good chance to make another record today but I could not finish well in last moment as the muscle was weak and I had an almost sleepless night. I am not satisfied with this performance,” said Rayhan, who was named as the best male athlete of the tournament.
Sumi Akter of Army became the best female athlete by winning four gold medals, helping Army regain the championship title with 16 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze medals.
Bangladesh Navy finished second with 15 gold, 21 silver and nine bronze medals while Bangladesh Jail finished third with two gold, one silver and four bronze medals. BKSP finished fourth with two gold and one silver medal.
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