Weerakoon wins first medal for Sri Lanka in 400m
Navishka Sandeesh Weerakoon, a promising track athlete from St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa bagged the first medal for Sri Lanka, a silver, at the 3rd Asian Youth Athletics Championship in Hong Kong yesterday.
Navishka Sandeesh Weerakoon (left) claimed the 400m silver
Weerakoon clocked 48.26 seconds in the Men’s 400m Final, almost claiming the gold medal, but missing it by a mere 0.09 seconds to India’s Rasheed Abdul Razak. Razak, who had a good full run, clocked 48.17 seconds to claim the gold, as he was closely pursued by Weerakoon from the first turn.
Razak and Weerakoon outnumbers the rest in the final bend, but the Sri Lankan was clearly a threatening factor for the Indian in the final 50 metres. The performance by Weerakoon was his personal best, and the first time he managed to clear the 49-second range. His best timing in Sri Lanka was 49.15 seconds.
Weerakoon was one among the four athletes out of 13 representing Sri Lanka to qualify for the final and win a medal. Sanjana Kavindi Edirisinghe finished eighth in the Girls’ 400m Final, after clocking 1:00.90, in which Japan’s Saki Takashima clocked 54.83 seconds to win the gold medal.