Assam sprinter Mehedi Hassan secured the best timing and along with that the gold medal in the men's 1500-meter run at the now-concluded 27th National Federation Senior Athletics Competition in Odisha.

Hassan secured a timing of 3:42:82, almost an entire second earlier than next-placed Madhya Pradesh's Abhishek Singh Thakur. Yoonus Shah from Uttar Pradesh rounded off the top three.

The athletics competition was held at the Kalinga Stadium in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar. The three-day event being organised by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) began on May 12 and ended on May 15.

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

The Assam Athletics Association (AAA) felicitated Hassan for his medal-winning exploit at the event. Assam sports minister Nandita Gorlosa felicitated him at a ceremony in a hotel in Guwahati.

The event saw the presence of notable figures including Gitartha Goswami, Member Secretary of the State Level Advisory Committee for Students and Youth Welfare; Hemanta Kalita, Secretary General of the Boxing Federation of India; Lakhya Konwar and Ashok Bharali, President and General Secretary of AAA; Pradeep Timung, Director of Sports and Youth Welfare, and Mehedi’s father, Abul Kalam Azad.

Speaking at the event, Mehedi Hassan expressed his gratitude, saying, “I want to thank Assam Athletics Association for the recognition and felicitation bestowed upon me today. At the same time I want to thank all my coaches for their constant support and guidance towards enhancing my performance.”

Mehedi Hassan began his career at the Sarusajai Sports Complex under the guidance of coaches Nipon Das and Nabajit Malakar, later moving to Kolkata. Despite facing a series of injuries that made him consider quitting, he decided to persevere thanks to the unwavering support from his coaches and family members.