Saidur Rahman Dawn

Saidur Rahman Dawn (born 18 January 1963) is a Bangladeshi sprinter. Dawn initially self-trained on a grass field, manually timing his runs with the help of his friends. He then gained a coach at the end of seventeen. Prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics, he was a psychology student and lived in Rajshahi.

At the time, he was regarded as "the fastest man in Bangladesh" and was invited to become the first Bangladeshi Olympian. The Bangladesh Olympic Association received some money from the International Olympic Committee for equipment and flights to the Summer Games, thus sending Dawn. He was designated as the nation's flagbearer in the opening ceremonies. He did not progress further from the heats of the men's 100 and 200 metres races.

Saidur Rahman Dawn was born on 18 January 1963 in Bangladesh.^[1] He was born to a family of five children, his father being a government worker.^[2] Before Dawn had any coach and had enrolled to college, he would train on a grass field near his childhood home. He would manually measure out a distance of 100 or 200 metres and ask for his friends to record his time. He trained by himself without a coach. It was not until when he was sixteen years old that he would get his first pair of track spikes, and the following year would be the first time he had coaching. He first ran on a synthetic athletics track when he was nineteen.^[3]

Prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States, he was a psychology student and lived in Rajshahi.^[4] The Bangladesh Olympic Association had received $5750 from the International Olympic Committee for funds for equipment, housing, and flights to the Summer Games.^[5] Dawn was invited to be the only athletes for Bangladesh at the 1984 Summer Olympics as he was the "fastest man in Bangladesh", becoming the first Bangladeshi athlete to compete at an Olympic Games.^[2] At the Summer Games, he was designated as the nation's flagbearer for the opening ceremony. His goal was to qualify for at least a semi-final finish in an event he had entered.^[6]

He first competed in the heats of the men's 100 metres on 3 August. Dawn had ran in a time of 11.25 seconds in the eighth heat and placed last in his heat of eight competitors,^[5] citing he had "tangled" his legs after running the first 80 metres of the race.^[6] He had cried.^[4] He then competed in the heats of the men's 200 metres three days later against eight other athletes. He ran in a time of 22.59 seconds and placed seventh in his heat, not advancing further.^[7] On the last week of the Games, the Bangladeshi delegation visited Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, and Universal Studios Hollywood.^[6]

• Saidur Rahman Dawn at Olympedia