An athlete in his teens, Riyaz Khan gave an extraordinary performance when he won no less than five gold medals in the 15th Sindh Games at Mirpurkhas. Unfortunately, his amazing feat remains, so far, unrecognised and unacknowledged in Karachi. The 17-year-old’s five gold medal haul was a major contribution towards regaining the athletics title which Karachi had lost to Sukkur in the 2011 Sindh Games.

Khan’s performance included winning the 100 metres race in 11.31 seconds, and in sprint double he covered the 200 metres in 24.26 seconds. He then returned a time of 64.90 seconds to win the gold medal in 400-metres race. Khan also helped his team in claiming 4x100 and 4x 400metres relay races to complete the tally of five gold medals. Sprint double is a rare feat and he was declared the best athlete which is a great honour for himself as well as Karachiites.

Belonging to a lower middle class family, Khan lives with his widowed mother, four elder bothers, and a sister in Shireen Jinnah colony, Karachi. His brothers are labourers and the family depends on their earnings. In such difficult conditions Khan’s commitment to carry on his studies and athletics requires incentive and encouragement from the well-wishers and patrons of sports in the country.

A second year commerce student of Jinnah College, Khan attends a two-hour training session, six days a week, under the supervision of his coach Mohammad Talib, at the Athletics Fitness School (AFS) at the Hockey Club of Pakistan. He was selected along with other athletes after the AFS summer camp in 2006 and since then he has been getting regular training. The AFS was established in the ’70s by former international hurdler and coach Mohamad Talib, and the training and coaching is for free. It has produced a large number of men and women athletes, including South Asian Games gold medalist Naseem Hameed.

Despite lack of experience, Riyaz had competed in the 2010 National Athletics Championships held in Islamabad and after qualifying, he finished sixth among the top-eight sprinters of the country. This shows that he has the potential that translates into memorable performances at national and international levels, provided he gets the required support.

Khan believed that whatever success he has achieved is due to the guidance of his mentor and coach Talib and his ambition is to win honour for the nation. When asked why he preferred athletics and not cricket which is financially more rewarding, he replied that athletics is the mother of all games since it makes one physically stronger and fit to face challenges.