Bangladesh’s Jahir races to 400m sprint semis in World U18 Championships

Bangladesh’s Mohammad Jahir Rayhan has advanced to the semifinals of the 400-metre sprint at the World Under-18 Championships in Kenya.

Jahir clocked a personal best of 48.00 seconds, finishing third in Heat 1 on Wednesday in capital Nairobi.

He finished 14th among 26 competitors who got into the semis. Jamaica’s Anthony Cox (46.53s) finished first.

He is the first Bangladeshi to advance to the semifinals in a world championships event since Abdullah Hel Kafi made it in 100m at 1998 World Youth Games.

The 16-year-old Jahir’s previous personal best was at the 22nd Asian Youth Championships last month in Bangkok, where he clocked 49.12 seconds to qualify for the Nairobi competition.

“I have surpassed my expectation. The semifinals are tomorrow. Please pray for me, so that I can do even better in the semis,” Jahir told bdnews24.com.

Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan (BKSP) coach Kafi believes Jahir has the potential to become a future star.

“I advanced to the 100-metre semis in the 1998 World Youth Games. He (Jahir) is the first to proceed to semis since then. In fact, he is the first athlete to get into semis from Bangladesh if you consider World Championships,” Kafi later said.

“Jahir finished top in 200-metre and 400-metre events in national junior athletics, and came second in 100-metre event. The boy is prodigious. If we can arrange long-term training for him, he will do very well,” added his mentor.