A seven-member Bangladesh Athletics team will leave here for Iran Thursday (Feb 15) morning to take part in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship 2024 in hope to retain gold medal in 60-meter sprint.

The 11th version of the Asian Indoor Athletics championship will be held in the Iranian capital Tehran from February 17-19.

In the 10th Asian Indoor Athletics held in Astana, Kazakhstan February last year, a 30-year-old England-based Bangladesh origin athlete Imranur Rahman bring laurel for the country as he emerged as the first Bangladeshi athlete to win first- ever Asian gold medal in the men's 60- meter sprint.

Imranur, the fasted man of Bangladesh, clocked 6.70 seconds to finish 3nd in the heats and reached semifinal and later he qualified for the final as the 2nd best with a improved timing of 6.61 seconds.

Finally, Imranur made the countrymen happy by winning the first ever gold medal in Asian level with another improved timing of 6.59 seconds in the final of the 60-meter sprint.

Seven member Bangladesh team comprises five athletes and two officials.

General Secretary of Bangladesh Athletics Federation Advocate Abdur Rakib Montu will also accompany the Bangladesh side as the team leader cum congress delegate while M Jamal Hossain will act as team official.

Five athletes of the team are: Imranur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan (60-meter sprint), Zahir Raihan (400-meter run), Mahfuzur Rahman (High Jump) and Shirin Akhter (60-meter sprint).

The Asian gold winning Bangladeshi athlete Imranur Rahman and other Bangladesh athletes sought blessing from the countrymen to achieve their target.

The Bangladesh team will return home on February 20