Mercantile Athletic Meet from August 19 to 21
The 33rd Annual Mercantile Athletic Meet organised and conducted by the Mercantile Athletic Federation (MAF) will be held at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex from August 19 to 21 from 9.00a.m. to 5.00 p.m. each day. Inaugurated in 1982 with the participation of only 512 competitors it grew in numbers every year. In 2015 there were over 1700 competitors from forty three mercantile establishments. The organisers are expecting a much bigger participation this year with athletes from India and Malaysia also in the fray.
Sri Lanka Telecom won the overall championship last year with 416 points followed by SriLankan Airlines (212) and Sampath Bank (198) points. 24 new meet records were established at the last event in 2015. It is interesting to note that five records with over two decades old still stand which were held by A.V. Silva (Mahesh Garments) in the Men’s Championship 800mts with a time of 2:04.01secs., P.K.N. Arunasiri (Ceylon Breweries) in the Men’s championship 5000mts clocking a time of 15:33.00secs, in the Men’s Novices 1500mts.P.K.N. Arunasiri (Ceylon Breweries) with a time of 4:06.07secs.
Jayamini Illeperuma (HNB) in the 800mts of the Women’s Championship with a time of 2:19.02secs and Nayanthi Kumari (Trico) in the Women’s Championship Long Jump event with a jump of 5.75mts. The meet will be conducted in Men’s and Women’s Championship/Novices, over 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, and 55 age groups. Team that wins the Overall Championship along with the outstanding athletes will be sent to Singapore, India and Malaysia by the Mercantile Athletic Federation to gain international exposure.