Sri Lanka to host South Asian Junior Athletics Championship in May 2022
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Sri Lanka is expected to host the South Asian Junior Athletics Championship in May 2022, according to Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) sources. Sri Lanka first hosted the inaugural South Asian Junior Athletics Championship in 2007 and again in 2018, while India had hosted the regional events in 2013 in Ranchi.
On both occasions, the championship was held at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, and the upcoming event in May 2022 is expected to take place at the same venue. At the last event held in 2018 in Colombo, India topped the medals tally with 20 golds, followed Sri Lanka, who won 12 gold, 10 silver and 19 bronze medals.
The regional event is originally planned to take place once in every two years, but due to countries failing to bid as hosts, it is now being held once in four years. However, Sri Lanka Athletics is keen to conduct the event once in every two years, and are expected to draw the support of India and other regional nations to make it possible.
Through this regional event, Sri Lanka was able to discover raw athletic talent that went on to bring glory to the country in the likes of Aruna Darshana, Dilshi Kumarasinghe, Amasha de Silva, Parami Wasanthi, Sharmila Jan and Shelinda Jansen.
