Fakhruddin Ahmed: a legendary runner from yesteryear

Man can only sail through life by riding the chariot of time, but he leaves behind golden memories of the past. This is the natural course for mankind. Despite that, man looks back at bygone times – in search of his heritage and tradition, and to erect the pathways for his future. During one such episode in our time-travel on 8 January 2025, we encountered the legendary athlete Fakhruddin Ahmed – who was the middle-distance (800 and 1500 metres) champion athlete of East Pakistan from 1966 to 1970. But ‘champion athlete’ was not his only identity; he also thrived as a sports reporter of the leading English daily of the era ‘The Pakistan Observer’ between 1967 and 1970. He also joined the chemistry department of Dhaka University as a lecturer in 1970 after getting first class at both undergraduate and graduate levels of the same university. And then in the same year, he became the first Bangali to be awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship from the then East Pakistan – leaving for Oxford University to pursue doctorate program. He obtained the Doctor of Philosophy degree from Oxford in 1975 for his dissertation on molecular spectroscopy, and then moved on to the United States of America (USA) in 1977 where he now lives.

Those who were present during our discussions with Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed at the National Press Club included another legendary sportsman Abdus Sadeque – who played for the national hockey teams of both Pakistan and Bangladesh, and was also a footballer cum coach of both Abahani KC and the national football team of Bangladesh. Besides, the veteran sports journalist of Dainik Bangla fame Muhammad Quamruzzaman, former captain of Bangladesh national football team Abdus Salam, and the editor of fortnightly ‘Krirajagat’ Dulal Mahmud were also present. Sadeque was one year senior to Fakhruddin at the Dhaka University; but they both resided at the Salimullah Muslim Hall of the university, and were both awarded ‘university blue’ for sporting successes in 1967. It could also be gathered that Sadeque was a top-class Basketball player of the province during the 1960s.

While speaking about his own sporting career, Fakhruddin informed that he was the athletic champion of the country’s top educational institute Faujdarhat Cadet College for consecutive three years (1963, 1964, 1965) before joining Dhaka University. But the Principal of his college Colonel William Morris Brown indoctrinated him about the importance of maintaining a balance between his sporting and academic pursuits.

While studying at Dhaka University, the famous sports personality, author, organiser and ex-DU Blue Kazi Abdul Alim made enormous contributions to Fakhruddin’s career as his coach. Besides, the former sports director of Dhaka University ATM Mostafa as well as the then 200 metres provincial athletic champion Hafizuddin Ahmed (member of both Pakistan and Bangladesh national football teams, later army-Major as well as decorated freedom fighter of 1971) played important roles in his success as his mentors. Fakhruddin Ahmed’s biggest achievement was setting a provincial record in 1968 by running the 800 metres in less than 2 minutes. However, he informed that when he was supposed to celebrate that extraordinary feat with his friends and well-wishers, he meekly went back to his university hostel for completing the academic assignment that was due the following day.

During our conversation, Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed also mentioned about another of his successes. He was made the captain of the athletics team of East Pakistan Sports Federtaion or EPSF in 1969 at the age of only 21 years, when he participated at the Pakistan National Games in Lahore. At that time, he used to cover the test cricket matches held in Dhaka as a sport reporter of Observer, and his writings were always featured in the souvenirs brought out by EPSF on such occasions. Another notable feature of his sporting career was the award of Dhaka University Blue and the captaincy of Dhaka University athletics team in 1967 at the age of only 19 years. Almost two decades later in 1985, the Dhaka University Alumni Association awarded him a special prize as the all-time greatest runner of the university.

As mentioned before, Ahmed used to work as sports reporter of the leading English daily The Pakistan Observer while studying at Dhaka University. He started writing a popular column titled ‘Veterans’ Calling’ on the advice of the then sports editor of the daily S A Mannan (Ladu Bhai) – who later embraced martyrdom during the country’s liberation war in 1971. The column dwelt at length on the achievements of the country’s sporting greats from the bygone era, like the legendary footballer Nabi Chowdhury. Another column that he wrote on the successes of the country’s contemporary sports-stars titled ‘Players’ Gallery’ was also hugely popular. Even budding stars like the sprinter cum long-jump champion Sultana Ahmed got coverage through that column, which made her a celebrity overnight.

Ahmed continued to write on sports for the Observer even after independence, which was highly acclaimed by the readership. He used to send despatches for both The Bangladesh Observer and the Dainik Bangla (sports editor Muhmmad Quamruzzaman) while covering the Munich Olympic in 1972. Besides, his write-ups on the then world heavy weight boxing champion Muhammad Ali published in the Observer were immensely popular among sports enthusiasts. Later, he regularly wrote for The Daily Star after its launching in 1991, and his weekly column ‘Letter from America’ had a sizeable readership.

Dr Ahmed has sustained his passion for running even after going abroad and pursuing a career in the UK and the USA. He ran against the Cambridge University team as a member of the Oxford University athletic team at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre (London) of UK in 1973. Besides, he regularly ran the New York Marathon from 1980s to 2010. Even at this advanced age of almost 77 years, he runs a few miles every day at his New Jersey abode. Three of his notable contributions in the area of publishing have been the compilations of three autobiographical works in English by the ex-Speaker of Pakistan Constituent Assembly Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan, former Vice-President of Bangladesh Dr M N Huda, and the national award-winning headmaster Jalal-ud-Din Ahmad, which were all published by the UPL.

Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed is a former Editor of Bangladesh Quarterly. hahmed1960@gmail.com