The Daily Star (DS): Congratulations for bringing such a big honour for Bangladesh. How was your reaction when you won the gold medal?

For too long the country’s athletics had failed to live up to its celebrated past at the international stage. While the Bangladeshi sprinters -- the likes of Shah Alam, Bimal Chandra Tarafder, MahbubAlam -- contributed to five golds out of the overall eight medals in athletics from 1984 to 2019 at the regional multi-sports extravaganza in the form of South Asian Games, it has been 17 frustrating years since Mahfizur Rahman Mithu won a gold medal in 110m hurdles in the 2006 Colombo edition.  

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. 

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

Imranur's 6.70 seconds was the third-best timing in the competition overall and with a chance to compete in the semi-finals, the sprinter has a shot at bringing home a medal.

Bangladesh's fastest man Imranur Rahman produced his personal best to move into the semifinals of 100m sprint at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey today.

Bangladesh's fastest man Imranur Rahman could not participate in the World Championship heats, despite qualifying with flying colours, due to a groin injury.