Bangladeshi swimmer Samiul Islam Rafi has been eliminated from the heats of the 100m freestyle event at the Paris Olympics. The event was held at the Paris La Defense Arena on Tuesday, as announced in a press release.

Samiul finished fifth in his heat, clocking his career-best time of 53.10 seconds. Despite his personal achievement, he placed 69th overall out of 79 participants in the qualification round.

American swimmer Alex Je topped the qualification round with an impressive time of 47.57 seconds.

Samiul, who hails from the Rajbari district, expressed satisfaction with his performance. "I am happy with the best timing in my career. I tried to improve my timing and I did it," he said.

The top 16 swimmers from the qualification round advanced to the semi-finals of the competition, leaving Samiul to reflect positively on his personal progress.