Bangladesh has won two gold medals, four silvers and four bronze medals in its history in Commonwealth Games. All of these medals have come from shooting events. In the absence of shooting and archery, another promising event, in the Birmingham Games Bangladesh has returned empty handed from the Commonwealth Games for the first time after five editions.

However, returning empty handed from international events is nothing new for Bangladesh. The Birmingham Games was just the continuation of a trend that has been going on for decades.

The athletes alone don’t carry the burden of this failure. In a country where international games are treated as an occasion for ‘excursion’ and ‘gaining experience’ by both athletes and federation officials, there’s no reason to blame only the athletes.