Motaleb follows idol to 200m crown, Shirin doubles up, Navy dominate meet

Sprinter Abdul Motaleb followed in the footsteps of his idol, country’s fastest man Imranur Rahman, to win the 200m at the 49th National Athletics Championships, while fastest woman Shirin Akter also claimed gold in the women’s 200m on the final day of the meet at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

Motaleb of Bangladesh Army dethroned defending champion Tarek Rahman to secure his first senior-level gold medal, clocking 21.87 seconds -- just 0.03 seconds ahead of Tarek -- while Bangladesh Navy’s Rakibul Hasan finished third in 22.06 seconds.

“I had prepared for the 100m sprint, but a stomach upset two days before the championships affected me and I finished fifth,” said Motaleb. “After that disappointment, I focused fully on the 200m and worked really hard under coach Farid Khan and assistant coach Shamsunnahar.”

The 23-year-old credited former Bangladesh Army teammate Imranur for helping him with training programmes and diet charts. “He told us we could become like him within a year or two,” he said.

The sprinter from Feni dedicated the medal to his four-year-old son Ayman, who watched him compete for the first time. “He may not understand the value of gold, but he noticed my sadness when I missed out before.”

Meanwhile, Shirin completed a sprint double by winning the women’s 200m in 24.93 seconds after taking the 100m title earlier in the meet. Sharifa Khatun won silver in 25.02 seconds, while Mayna Khanom took bronze in 26.06 seconds.

Two more national records were set on the final day, with Shorov Miah clearing 4.52 metres in pole vault and Sonia Akter recording 12.72 metres in triple jump, taking the total number of records broken in the meet to nine.

Bangladesh Navy finished as overall champions with 21 gold, 16 silver and 10 bronze medals, ahead of Bangladesh Army (17 gold, 20 silver and 20 bronze), while BKSP came third with two gold, three silver and four bronze medals.