Sprinter Darshana in action at Budapest today
Sri Lanka will feature in the Men’s 400m event a World Athletics Championships for the first time in 18 years when 24-year-old sprinter Aruna Darshana joins the starting blocks this afternoon at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Darshana, with a personal best of 45.45secs, has shown steady progress this year and Sri Lanka will hope the lad from Seruwila has enough energy in store to strive for success at the sport’s biggest stage. He is ranked 111th in the world this season. He will feature in the fourth heat which will start at 2.19 pm Sri Lankan time.
It was Prasanna Amarasekera who last competed in the Men’s 400m race at the World Athletics Championships. Amarasekera, with a time of 47.11secs, did not make progress beyond the first round competing at the Helsinki World Championship in 2005. Champion sprinter Sugath Thilakaratne, the only Sri Lankan to break the 45-second barrier comprted at four consecutive World Championships (1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003) while Rohan Pradeep Kumara ran at the 2001 Championships in Edmonton, Canada.
Meanwhile women’s javelin thrower Nadeeka Lekamge will be in action on Thursday while the Men’s 4x400m relay quartet will make their appearance on August 26. Lekamge has a personal best of 60.23m, but all eyes will be on the relay quartet, who clocked a record timing of 3:01.56secs to win the Asian Championship gold medal this year.
Though sprinter Yupun Abeykoon was qualified for the 100m event, he withdrew from the competition in order to concentrate on the forthcoming Asian Games in China. Gayanthika Abeyratne, the 1500m runner, also pulled out from the championships to focus on Asian Games.