Imranur Rahman retained his men’s 100m title, while Shirin Akter defended her women’s crown as the Arafat Rahman Koko 18th National Summer Athletics Competition-2026 began at the National Stadium in Dhaka on Friday.
Imranur crossed the finish line in 10.53 seconds to claim the men’s sprint title. Mohammad Ismail finished second in 10.66 seconds, while Tarek Rahman took third place with a time of 10.73 seconds.
Shirin maintained her dominance in the women’s 100m, winning in 12.08 seconds. Sharifa Khatun finished runner-up in 12.23 seconds, with Sumaiya Dewan taking third in 12.33 seconds.
Imranur’s winning time put him 0.13 seconds ahead of Ismail, while Tarek finished a further 0.07 seconds behind the runner-up.
Shirin secured her title by 0.15 seconds ahead of Sharifa. Sumaiya, who had lost the women’s sprint crown to Shirin at the previous National Athletics Championships, again missed out on the top spot.
Sumaiya had another opportunity to reclaim the title at the summer competition but finished third, 0.25 seconds behind Shirin.
The results meant both reigning champions held on to their respective 100m titles at the opening day of the competition.
The 18th National Summer Athletics, named after Arafat Rahman Koko, began in Dhaka on Thursday and will run until 25 October.
A total of 565 athletes representing 57 organisations are taking part in the three-day competition. Medals are being contested across 40 events, comprising 22 men’s events and 18 women’s events.
