Assam's Mehedi Hassan Clinches Gold at National Athletics Competition

GUWAHATI: Assam sprinter Mehedi Hassan won the gold medal for the fastest time in the men's 1500-meter race at the recently finished 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition in Odisha.

Hassan finished the race in 3 minutes, 42.82 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of Abhishek Singh Thakur from Madhya Pradesh, who came in second. Yoonus Shah from Uttar Pradesh came in third place.

The athletics competition took place at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha. Organized by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), the three-day event started on May 12 and concluded on May 15.

Last year, Mehedi Hassan, from North Athiabari near Barpeta Road in Assam, won a bronze medal in the men's 1500-meter sprint event at the Asian U20 Athletics Championship held in Yecheon, South Korea.

The Assam Athletics Association (AAA) honored Hassan for his medal-winning performance at the event. Assam's sports minister, Nandita Gorlosa, presented him with the honor at a ceremony held at a hotel in Guwahati.

The ceremony was attended by several notable personalities, including Gitartha Goswami, who is a Member Secretary of the State Level Advisory Committee for Students and Youth Welfare; Hemanta Kalita, the Secretary General of the Boxing Federation of India; Lakhya Konwar and Ashok Bharali, who are the President and General Secretary of AAA respectively; Pradeep Timung, the Director of Sports and Youth Welfare; as well as Mehedi's father, Abul Kalam Azad.

Speaking at the event, Mehedi Hassan expressed his gratitude, saying, “I want to thank the Assam Athletics Association for recognizing and honoring me today. I also want to thank all my coaches for their continuous support and guidance in improving my performance.”

Mehedi Hassan started his career at the Sarusajai Sports Complex under the guidance of coaches Nipon Das and Nabajit Malakar before moving to Kolkata.

Despite encountering several injuries that made him contemplate giving up, he chose to continue, thanks to the steadfast support from his coaches and family members.

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