The second day of the 88th National Athletics Championship saw two new Sri Lankan records as well as a number of event finals and qualifying heats worked off yesterday, at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Sports complex in Diyagama.
Olympian Nadeeka Lakmali in her throwing motion during the Javelin Throw event. Pic by Sanka Vidanagama |
The new records came from L. Lindegedara from the Sri Lankan Army in the men’s hammer throw, with a distance of 38.42 meters, and G. Galehena in the women’s hammer throw, also from the army, who threw a distance of 30.16 meters.
Most of the day’s events were dominated by athletes from the Sri Lanka army (SLA). The field events that drew to a close were the Pole Vault, 100 meter Hurdles, Shot Put, Triple Jump, High Jump and the Javelin Throw.
K. Senarathne from the army claimed the Pole Vault men’s final with a distance 4.45 meters. In the 110 meter men’s hurdles final K. Randeewa, another army man, blistered past the finish line in 14.97 seconds. The women’s 100 meter hurdle event saw D. Wijesinghe from the Lanka Lions Sports club finish with a timing of 14.64 seconds. T. Wanniarachchi from the Sri Lanka Air Force won the men’s Shot Put event with a 14.04 meters. The men’s and women’s Triple jump final saw M. Gamage (SLA) and Ruwani Rubasingha (Matara district) leap distances of 15.57 meters and 12.13 meters respectively.
In the women’s High Jump, Priyangika Madumanthi from Kurunegala District cleared a distance of 1.70 meters to claim the title. Past Olympian Nadeeka Lakmali (SLA) produced a solid performance to win the women’s Javelin with a distance of 51.50 meters.
The day’s track events saw Kumara Mendis (SLA) win the 800 meters with a timing of 1 minute 50 seconds. D. Priyadarshini clocked in at 2 minutes 10 seconds to secure the women’s 800 meter event.
In the long distance events, M. Ajanthan (SLA) won the 10000 meter final, while B. Bogahawatta of Sri Lanka Navy taking the women’s 5000 meters.
There were also two athletes from Malaysia who took part in the men’s 400 meters. P. Yuvraj, the reigning Malaysian Junior national champion, progressed well through the tournament but stumbled in the semi finals, while Z. Abdeen was knocked out in the qualifying heats.
Secretary General of Athletics, Prema Pinnewale said that the local Athletics Association invited the two athletes to help create awareness for the stadium in Diyagama and also help raise the competitive bar of Sri Lankan Athletics. He says the Association wants to bring more athletes form countries such as India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia in the future.
The three day meet ends tomorrow at Diyagama with the conclusion of a number of events including the 100 meter and 400 meters men’s and women’s finals. |
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