Mahbub Alam was the king on athletics track for a long time and held the national record in the most prestigious 100m event for more than 22 years, but his results and achievements have not been preserved.
The lifespan of the legendary sprinter was cut short through a catastrophic road accident in 2010, and since then his family members have been living a different life.
If the athletes who were born and raised up in Bangladesh are counted, the timing Mahbub recorded before the turn of the millennium still sets him apart as the fastest man of the country.
It's only last year that London-based sprinter Imranur Rahman broke the 100m record but Mahbub's supremacy in the 200m event is intact.
More than two and a half decades elapsed and Mahbub is still the last gold medalist sprinter from Bangladesh in the South Asian Games.
The towering figure in athletics clocked 21.15 seconds to win silver in the 200m race at South Asian Games 1999 in Kathmandu, Nepal to set the national record which is unbroken.
He is considered one of the best sprinters the country has produced after Shah Alam and Bimal Chandra Tarafder.
A legend on the track
Mahbub was a specialist in 200m where he is the undisputed king in the country's athletics history.
No Bangladeshi managed to clinch gold in this event at South Asian Games before and after his feat in 1995 in Madras, India.
It was his first-time participation in the multi-discipline competition but the man from Kishoreganj showed his worth on debut taking only 21.22 seconds.
On the cover of Krirajagat He became a hero overnight and continued to dominate the domestic athletics track for more than half a decade both in 100m and 200m.
The budding athletes used to idolize him.
“He [Mahbub] was our idol. When I was a BKSP athlete and student, I had his framed photo on the wall,” former sprinter and current athletics coach Abdullah Hel Kafi told Dhaka Tribune.
Kafi became the fastest man of the country in 1999 beating Mahbub who did not take preparation prior to that competition, according to the winner.
1999 was however, a landmark year for Mahbub as he won three medals at the South Asian Games and posted a national record in the 100m (10.54 seconds) to bag bronze.
He finished second in 200m only through photo-finish and also won another bronze in the 4*100m relay along with Shahidul Islam, Shafiqul Islam and Kafi.
“We had a good relation. He was a man of great mind. I used to ask him to touch my head for blessing before the race,” Kafi added.
Mahbub also represented Bangladesh in 2000 Olympics in Sydney, 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok and two World Championships in 1997 (Greece) and 2001 (Canada).
Kafi, former Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan coach and now the deputy director of physical education at a public university, said, “He had the perfect height and weight of a sprinter. If he was born and grew up in a developed country, he would have achieved much more.”
Records not preserved
Mahbub is undeniable in the sports arena and his name would appear in the frontline if one attempts to write about the history of Bangladesh athletics.
But it came out from an investigation that no results or achievements of Mahbub's playing career are logged in the Bangladesh Athletics Federation.
The federation didn't even know how many medals Mahbub won in the national championships.
During a visit to the country's athletics governing body headquarters, a hand-written catalog of top three finishers was shown to this reporter but there was no record from 1994 to 2009.
“We only preserved those which were available when I joined (2014). Those who ran the federation before are responsible for this,” said a BAF official who wished to remain anonymous.
From the newspaper archives, it was learned that Mahbub was the fastest man on five occasions, with the last one being the 2002 summer athletics where he clocked 10.65 seconds.
Among four doubles (gold in both 100m and 200m), the last one came in 2000 where he took only 10.40 seconds (hand-timing) to complete the 100m race and beat his counterparts by distinct margin.
Mahbub played for Bangladesh Navy for the majority of his career before retiring in 2004.
He was adjudged the best athlete in 1995, 1997 and 1998 by Bangladesh Sports Press Association and Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association, and also won the national sports award in 2003.
The family saga
Kanu Mia was a freedom fighter.
His wife Halima Khatun gave birth to Mahbub after independence, but Kanu Mia soon passed away.
Mahbub had the responsibility to look after his mother and two sisters, alongside carrying on athletics where the income was insignificant.
Mahbub married Shopna Akhter in February 2000The federation pledged to give Tk1 lakh after he won the historic gold in 1995 SA Games which was never handed over during his lifetime.
His mother wanted to send her son abroad to earn more money even if she had to sell her land to arrange the costs.
Mahbub married Shopna Akhter in February, 2000, and they welcomed a daughter within a year.
Their lives changed completely after his death.
The federation gave Tk1 lakh after his demise.
The Bangladesh Olympic Association provided Tk5,000 per month for five years.
“It was very difficult (in the last 13 years). There was no income. I moved to my parents' house where I live with my sisters. They bear my expenses,” said Shopna.
“I often asked the federation for help to manage the cost of my daughter. Sometimes they helped but most of the times I returned empty handed.”
Shopna admitted she doesn't have any medal Mahbub won as athlete.
She said those are in her mother-in-law's possession.
According to her, Halima lives in Kishoreganj with her daughters.
Mahbub's mother could not be reached over phone.
