Following decades in doldrums, Bangladesh athletics have found a beacon of hope in Imranur Rahman, who stormed to a stunning 60m gold medal at the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Kazakhstan recently.

The 29-year-old had already won back-to-back titles in 100m sprint in national athletics and is promising to revive some of the glory days of the sport in the country.

In a freewheeling interview with The Daily Star's Atique Anam, the Sheffield-based sprinter talked his idols apart from his momentous victory, his ambitions, sacrifices and a lot more.

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‘Asian Indoors gold medal is just a start’

Replying to a question about his sporting idols, Imranur said: "My sporting idol outside of athletics is boxer Mohammad Ali. When I was younger, I used to enjoy boxing. In athletes, there are a few who have elements of their technique that I enjoy. I like Usain Bolt because his finish was very strong. I like Justin Gatlin, the way he used to start was amazing."

When it comes to sporting icons of Bangladesh, Imranur had two cricketers in mind.

"Currently I like cricketer Shakib Al Hasan like many Bangladeshis, but someone I really admired as a leader was Habibul Bashar. He captained Bangladesh for a long time and I think Bangladesh got their first Test win under him."