Fact-check: Man claiming to be fastest runner in Pakistan is an imposter

A man claiming to be the fastest person in Pakistan, after running a 100-metres race in less than 10.25 seconds, has received accolades and made several television appearances to promote his achievement.

His claim is false.

Claim

Imran Sabir, who hails from the Okara district in Punjab, has alleged on several television programs that he is the first man in Pakistan since 1947, to finish a 100-metre race in less than 10.25 seconds.

On September 23, at an event at the press club in Okara, held to honour Sabir, he claimed to be the number one in Pakistan in the category of the 100-metres race.

“It is a record no Pakistani has broken till date,” he boasted.

During an interview with a local channel on October 3, Sabir alleged that he had set the record during an event at Lahore’s Minhaj University in 2021.

“I ran by wearing 1,200g joggers,” he told the host of the show, “I covered the distance in less than 10.25 seconds and was later given an award by President Arif Alvi and the Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Suri.”

Fact

Geo Fact Check reached out to the Athletic Federation of Pakistan, which is the national body for athletics, to confirm the veracity of Sabir’s claim.

“Imran Sabir holds no such record,” Muhammad Zafar, the honorary secretary of the Federation, said.

Geo Fact Check then contacted Sabir to provide proof of his claim of being the fastest man in the country. Sabir provided certificates from the Hashmi Learning School in Lahore, dated 2016 and 2018.

He did not provide any certificate from Minhaj University.

The 2016 certificate states that Sabir was being awarded for “participating in the annual sports gala” and covering the 100-m race in just 11.15 seconds wearing 1,200g shoes.”

While the 2018 certificate reads that Sabir covered the 100-metre distance in just 10.25 seconds.

But Chaudhry Muhammad Fayyaz, the principal of the Hashmi Learning School, told Geo Fact Check that he does not recognise the certificates shared by Sabir.

“A certificate of this type has never been printed by our school,” he said, “Our school’s monogram has been used and this is totally fake.”

The signatures on the certificates were of Adil Nawaz, who was a teacher at the school.

Geo Fact Check then reached out to Nawaz as well. Nawaz said that while the signatures were his, he did not recognise ever signing these specific certificates.

“My signatures have been used, but these are not the certificates which I signed,” he said over the phone.

Geo Fact Check again contacted Sabir to further clarify his claim.

This time, Sabir altered his story and said that since two of his fingers were crooked therefore he was classified as a disabled person in the 100-metre race.

Sabir is also often seen wearing a coat with an insignia of the National Paralympic Committee of Pakistan, which promotes sports for the disabled in the country.

However, the National Paralympic Committee of Pakistan told Geo Fact Check that Sabir is not registered with them.

“Imran Sabir holds no such record and is not even part of the Pakistan Paralympic Association,” Ifitikhar Ali, the director of sports at the Punjab Paralympic Association, said.

Geo Fact Check finally reached out to Minhaj University, where Mazhar Mahmood Alvi, the central president of the Minhaj Youth League at the University, said that no 100-meters race was organised by them.

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