Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) confirmed the participation of five athletes at the upcoming Paris Olympics, scheduled for July 26th to August 11th.
Swimmers Samiul Islam Rafi and Sonia Akhtar, shooter Rabiul Islam, and sprinter Imranur Rahman all received wild cards, allowing them to compete despite not meeting automatic qualification standards. Archer Sagar Islam, on the other hand, secured his place through qualification.
Boxer Salim Hussain missed out on a wild card due to ranking considerations, and golfer Siddiqur Rahman, the first Bangladeshi to qualify directly for the Olympics in 2016, is not expected to participate this year.
While Bangladesh's athletes primarily aim to gain experience at the Olympics, their ultimate goal of winning a medal remains elusive. This year, they focus on surpassing their personal bests.
Sagar Islam will compete in the men's recurve archery event, while Imranur Rahman will participate in the 100 meters sprint. Swimmers Rafi and Sonia will tackle the 100 meters and 50 meters freestyle events, respectively. Notably, Bangladeshi swimmers have competed only in the 50 meters freestyle in the past three Olympics. Imran trains in London, and Rafi trains in Thailand, while the remaining athletes prepare domestically. Notably, this year's contingent features entirely new faces compared to the six athletes who represented Bangladesh at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
