It was the last national meet held on the good old track since the country's number two national stadium was built ahead of the 1987 SAF Games. The venue has recently been leased to Bangladesh Cricket Board, which is set to uproot the running track in a couple of month's time to give it a cricket look.

Athletics however will finally sign off from Mirpur after the junior national championships in May.

But the parting shot did not leave behind any impression apart from one instance of brilliance by Ishrat Jahan Iva, who defied the scorching heat and the pain of losing a home away from home to win the women's 100m sprint.

The 16-year-old Class X student from BKSP, who clinched the 200m gold on Friday upsetting Shamsunnahar Chumki, took 12.40 seconds to become the country's fastest woman in her first-ever national appearance.

Iva, who hails from Lalmonirhat and is the current national junior champion, was over the moon after her latest triumph.

"I never thought I would be able to do better than Chumki but now I've done it and it's great," said the elated Iva who is being trained by a Chinese coach.

The daughter of a Railway clerk, Iva is now looking forward to competing in the Asian Junior Championships in Malaysia in June.

"If I had not run in the 400m just before the 100m, I would have finished with a better timing," opined Iva, who wants to concentrate on shorter distances in future.

It was on the other hand a double disappointment for Chumki as the BJMC's sprinter, who still holds the national record in both events, finished with 12.60 seconds to settle for silver while the bronze went to her teammate Sumita Rani Das (12.65 seconds).

Abu Abdullah of Bangladesh Army became the fastest man with 10.90 seconds. The 23-year-old sprinter from Noakhali, who had a less than impressive SAF Games, finally basked in glory at the fourth attempt in the national championship.

Abdullah, who finished fifth in the 9th SAF Games just two weeks ago in Islamabad, won a bronze last year but he was a gold winner at the last Summer Athletics.

Abdullah's Army mate Shahidul Islam (11.10 seconds) and Abdullah Hel Kafi (11.32 seconds) of BJMC won silver and bronze respectively.

But Abdullah was both happy and sad at his achievement.

"It's good to become the fastest man of the country but what's the point if the timings are still hand-held. It will not allow me to know where I stand in terms of electronic timing. Had the electronic device been used in training or in the domestic competitions we could have performed better in the SAF Games," said a frustrated looking Abdullah.

Meanwhile, at the end of the two-day competition Bangladesh Army, as usual, dominated with 15 gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals, followed by BJMC with a haul of 12-15-7.

Out of 36 events, 17 were decided yesterday. Following are the winners:

MEN'S
20km walk: Shafiqul Islam (Navy)
110m hurdles: Mahfuzur Rahman (BJMC)
Discuss: Azharul Islam (Army)
1500m: Israfil Khalil (Army)
10,000m: Kafi Sarkar (Army)
Pole vault: Humayun Kabir (Navy)
400m: Tanzil Akram (BKSP)
3000m steeple chase: Anisur Rahman (Army)
Triple jump: Alem Uddin (Army)
100m: Abu Abdullah (Army)
4x400 relay: Bangladesh Army

WOMEN'S
1500m: Naznin Nahar Lucky (BJMC)
Javelin: Hazera Akhtar Doly (BKSP)
400m: Nazmun Nahar Beauty (BJMC)
Discuss: Jyotsna Afroz (BJMC)
100m: Ishrat Jahan Iva (BKSP)
4x400 relay: BJMC