Mahfuza Khatun is a Bangladeshi

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. She won two gold medals in the 50 m & 100 m breaststroke swimming at the

2016 South Asian Games The 2016 South Asian Games, officially the XII South Asian Games, is a major multi-sport event which took place from 5 February to 16 February 2016 in Guwahati and Shillong, India. A total of 2,672 athletes competed in 226 events over 22 sports ...

at Guwahati.

Early life

Mahfuza Khatun was born into a poor family from Panchkabor village in Abhaynagar upazila,

Jessore District Jessore District, List of renamed places in Bangladesh, officially Jashore District (; ), is a Districts of Bangladesh, district in southwestern Bangladesh. It is bordered by India to the west, Khulna District, Khulna and Satkhira District, Satk ...

. Her father's name is Ali Ahammad Gazi and mother's name is Karimon Nesa. She has four siblings. She started competitive swimming in 1999 through a Shisu Academy swimming competition. She won her first medal in her 3rd grade. She won the first gold medal in 100-metre breaststroke in national age group swimming in Dhaka in 2002. She was a student of Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan; national sports institute in the year of 2002. Then she did her graduation and post-graduation in Communication and Journalism at

University of Chittagong The University of Chittagong () also known as Chittagong University (CU), is a public research university located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was established on 18 November 1966. It is the fifth oldest university of Bangladesh. Having an area ...

in 2016. Initially she joined Ansar-VDP services team in 2010 but left in 2013 for

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy () is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for the defence of Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area from any external threat, the security of sea ports and exclusive economic zones of Ban ...

Career

Mahfuza Khatun's favorite events are 100 and 50 meter breaststroke. She got her first SA games medal in Colombo 2006 in 100 m breaststroke. She won two bronze medals in 100 and 50 meter breaststroke swimming in that games. Again in

2010 South Asian Games The 2010 South Asian Games, officially the XI South Asian Games, was a major multi-sport event that took place from 29 January to 8 February 2010 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This was the third time that the Bangladeshi capital hosted the South Asian ...

, she earned two silver medals in 100 and 50 meter breaststroke swimming. Gradually improving herself, Mahfuza won the 100 and 50 meter breaststroke gold in 2016 SA Games. In 50 meters, she broke the SA Games record with the timing of 34.88 seconds in 2016. She represented Bangladesh in

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

in Delhi,

2010 FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) The 10th FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 15–19 December 2010. This swimming-only championships took place in the Dubai Sports Complex; all events were swum in a 25-meter ( short-course) ...

in Dubai,

2013 World Aquatics Championships The 15th FINA World Championships (, ) were held from 20 July to 4 August in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

in Glasgow.

Personal life

Khatun married another swimmer Shajahan Ali on 18 March 2016. They were dating for quite some time. Ali proposed to her in front of Tajmahal when they were at

2010 Commonwealth games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

in Delhi. Khatun and Ali have known each other from BKSP days since 2002.

Honours and achievements

Awards * Sportsperson of the year award for 2016 awarded by Bangladesh Sports Press Association.

References

External links