Syed Meesaq Rizvi

Syed Meesaq Rizvi was a Pakistan sprinter and also a middle-distance runner who represented the country at two Summer Olympic Games, at Los Angeles 1984 and at Seoul 1988, without achieving anything of note.

Educated at two prestigious institutions of Pakistan, the Habib Public School in Karachi and the Government College in Lahore, Meesaq Rizvi qualified as a medical doctor who specialises in sports medicine. He has also served with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on their medical commission and has been in the news due to his work regarding fitness problems faced by fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Meesaq now runs a fitness centre in Lahore.

Born on January 23, 1962, Meesaq came to the limelight when he earned a bronze medal in the 800 metres event at the National Athletics Championship in Peshawar in 1982. At Hyderabad 1983 he finished second in the same event and was then again third at Faisalabad in 1984.

At the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 Meesaq ran the 400 metres in 49.58 seconds in his heat, finishing seventh and last. In his 800 metres heat, he ended with a time of 1:51.29 minutes which placed him fifth out of seven runners.

At the first South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Kathmandu in 1984, Meesaq competed in the 1,500 metres race but finished sixth. At the National Athletics Championship in Islamabad in 1985 he was second in the 800 metres and finally won a gold medal in the 400 metres event at the Nationals in Rawalpindi 1987 with a time of 53.32 seconds.

Meesaq won a silver medal as part of Pakistan's 4x400 metres relay quartet at the SAF Games in Dhaka in 1985. He ran in a poor 1:49.60 minutes but still got a silver medal in 800 metres in an International Meet in Delhi 1987.

He represented Pakistan at the 2nd IAAF World Championships in Athletics at Rome in 1987, but did not start in his first round heat 6 in the 800 metres event.

At the Seoul Olympics in 1988, Meesaq only took part in the 800 metres race. He ended sixth out of eight in his heat with a time of 1:51.58. Overall, he was ranked 50th out of a total of 70 contestants.