Bangladesh Sports Education Institute (BKSP) dominated the 38th National Junior Athletics Championships, claiming the top spot with an impressive haul of 47 medals. This included 26 gold, 12 silver, and 9 bronze medals.
The Noakhali District Sports Association (DSA) finished second with a total of 15 medals (4 gold, 5 silver, and 6 bronze). Kishoreganj DSA secured third place with 7 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze).
The three-day competition witnessed a remarkable feat with 7 new national records being established. Two of these records were set on the final day.
Azmi Khatun from BKSP shattered the national record in the Girls' 400m race, clocking an impressive time of 58.58 seconds. This eclipsed the previous record of 1:00.00 seconds held by China Khatun of the Rajbari DSA.
In the Boys' Triple Jump (Juvenile category), another national record was broken by BKSP's Tamim Hossain. He cleared a distance of 14.56 meters, surpassing the previous record of 14.41 meters set by his teammate, Mizbah Ahmed.
Zooey Akhter, a swimmer representing BKSP, emerged as a double record breaker at the 36th National Junior Swimming Championships.
At the Syed Nazrul Islam Swimming Complex in Mirpur, Zooey set a new national record in the Girls' 15-17 years category for the 100m breaststroke. Her time of 1:25:07 seconds eclipsed the previous record of 1:25:43 seconds set by Mariam Khatun of the Sagarkhali Swimming Club in 2012.
Later in the day, Zooey continued her record-breaking performance by clocking 11:04:78 seconds in the 800m freestyle event. This surpassed the previous record of 11:20:15 seconds set by Najma Khatun of Bangladesh Ansar a century ago.
Zooey, a tenth-grade student at BKSP, participated in the BIMSTEC Junior Water Sports Competition held in Delhi earlier this year. Witnessing the opportunities available to Indian swimmers, Zooey expressed his desire for similar training opportunities abroad. "They get a lot more chances than us," he said. "If we can train under a coach abroad for a longer period, we too can win international medals."
