Ashrafuddin Pirzada
PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s fastest athlete Samiullah who sells cooked rice in the Jamrud bazaar in Khyber tribal district to make a living won a gold medal in the 33rd National Games in Pakistan and says he will break the world record in the South Asian games being held in Nepal next month.
Samiullah,25, resident of Jamrud subdivision in erstwhile Fata clocked the 100 meters fast race in 10. 64 seconds.While the world record in the same category is 9.58 seconds.
Samiullah, the father of three sons, sales cooked rice in Jamrud tehsil bazaar in the Khyber Tribal district for the last ten years.
Speaking to Fatavoice Samilullah says he and his family is so happy that he clinched a gold medal in 100 meters fast run. He says he paved the 100 meters fast run in 10 seconds and 64 microseconds a difference of less than a minute which is a world record.
Samu says it was an unforgettable moment not only for him but also for his parents and other family members to celebrate his win at the stadium when he was honoured with a gold medal.
Samiullah lives with his parents in a small mud-made rented house near Jamrud bazaar. He said every day he cooks and sells Polao rice in Jamrud bazaar and then he leaves for Islamia college ground where gets traning with his trainer.
“This is my first national games gold but I have won around a hundred other gold, silver and browns medals in different regional and departmental games held in Pakistan”, says Samiullah.
He says he is getting tough training for the coming month’s South Asian games scheduled in Nepal where he would participate and hopefully bring a gold medal for Pakistan.
Father of three boys Samullah earns livelihood for his poor family said people come to his rice stall to meet him and take selfies with him. He says every day he hardly earns rupees 1000 to 1500 working for almost ten hours a day.
“I leave my home at 6 am early morning and go to Jamrud bazaar where i open my rice stall and work for around 4 pm”, Sami said.
Samiullah says he remained champion of under 14,15 and under 19 several times. He says he joins WAPDA recently and won inter-board and inter-university medals.
The national athlete says about his education that due to extreme poverty he could only get schooling at the secondary level. “I get only Rs22,000 in which I only adjust my sports kits and training fee”, Sami expressed.
” I am optimistic that I will break the world record in the coming Nepal games and will bring international title for Pakistan”, Samilullah maintained.
Dilawar Khan, Father of Samilullah, says they basically belong to Bannu but fifty years ago poverty compelled him to shift his siblings to Jamrud where he started selling cooked rice in the bazaar. He says is fond of being an athlete since he was a child.
Dilawar says he now feels proud of the father of the national champion.
Muhammed Shah, training Samilullah says that he works hard with Samiullah for several hours every day. He says Samilullah is a dedicated sportsman who sees him at the top of the international ranking. 
Shah urges sponsors and the government to help Samiullah financially so that he could use his full time in sports rather to sell rice in the bazaar.
Samiullah’s trainer says he can achieve the world title which is now with the Jamaican athlete who completed a 100-meter fast run in only 9 seconds and 58 microseconds.
