Sadia, Akter get the gold

Sadia Akter and Akter Hossain hogged the limelight on the fourth day of the Bangladesh Youth Games as the two grabbed a total of seven gold medals in athletics at the Kaji Hedayet Hossain Stadium in Rajbari yesterday.

Sadia, hailing from Rajbari's Sadar upazila, displayed her formidable talents to win gold in the 100m, 200m and 400m sprint and high-jump events. The class IX student also became second in the long-jump event.

Similar to how Sadia shone in the girl's competitions Akter, a local of Pangsha Upazila in the same district, drew attention by winning the boy's 100m, 200m and 400m sprints. Akter, a class X student, also won a bronze medal in long-jump. 

“Both Sadia and Akter are champion athletes in inter-school athletics championships at district and divisional levels but they never participated in junior national meets,” said Rajbari's District Sports Association general secretary Shafiqul Islam over the phone.

Islam believes that if Sadia and Akter are afforded proper training, they could become good athletes in the future.

Like Sadia and Akter, Mohammad Tareq also shone brightly yesterday as he bagged three gold medals in swimming while Shah Alam and Farzana Akter became the fastest boy and girl in Barisal.

At Sylhet, Biswanath upazila's swimmer Tareq claimed the gold in three events -- 50m and 100m breaststroke and 200m freestyle.

Shah Alam of Barisal's Sadar upazila became of the champion 100m and 200m sprints while Farzana Akter followed Alam's footsteps to win gold in the girl's 100m and 200m sprints.