Imranur storms to historic gold at Asian Indoor Athletics Championships

England-based Bangladeshi sprinter Imranur Rahman created history on Saturday by becoming the first Bangladeshi to win a gold medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship.

The 29-year-old sprinter clocked his best timing, of 6.59 seconds, in the 60-metre event to win the gold medal in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan tonight.

Imranur, the two-time fastest sprinter of Bangladesh, had clocked 6.70 seconds in the heats – finishing third -- earlier in the morning to seal a semifinal berth. Then he improved his timing to 6.61 seconds to move into the final as the second best, finishing second only on photo-finish.

Imranur then further improved his personal timing by clocking 6.59 seconds in the final to take home the gold medal.

Bangladesh's fastest female sprinter Shirin Akter, however, bowed out from the heats after clocking 7.93 seconds in her 60m event.