Tharushi’s moment of glory
A jubilant Tharushi Karunaratne finishes the Women's 800m race ahead of top contenders from China and India - AFP
A little-known girl from a well-known school to produce athletes of international repute, has now won the hearts of many a Sri Lankan. Tharushi Karunaratne, who will be turning 19 on November 18, not only made her country proud at the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, but also engraved her name in the record book as a young, yet promising runner at elite stage.
Tharushi, best known for her calm and composed character, is a totally different persona on the track, where she competes in the 400m and 800m events, both individual and relay. Elevating Sri Lanka’s position from bronze to silver in the 4x400m Mixed Relay, where the team was disqualified for an infringement of lane rules, it was Tharushi who made a remarkable run to finish second behind the Qatar team. Though the rest of the team – Aruna Darshana, who made this costly mistake, Nadeesha Ramanayake and Kalinga Kumarage – were already aware of the outcome, Tharushi performed to her usual, or perhaps above par potential.
Her personal medal tally would have ended up with three, but she returns home with two, one each of gold and bronze. At the Asian Athletics Championship, she pocketed three medals – a gold and two silvers. But what matters most is the future she has already predicted, if proper assistance is provided, apart from her long-standing coach Susantha Fernando’s guidance.
Tharushi clinched her third gold medal in the Women’s 800m at Asian level within months of 2023 – first at the Asian Under-20 Athletic Championship held in South Korea in June, followed by the Asian Athletics Championship in Thailand in July, before bagging her third at the ongoing Asian Games a few days ago.
All three were her debuts, and with records rewritten. Tharushi’s Asian Games gold, where she clocked 2:03.20secs, was the first in 21 years, after ace sprinter and Olympian Susanthika Jayasinghe’s gold medal in Women’s 100m in Busan, South Korea in 2002. It was not the debut for the Olympic 200m silver medalist, but for Tharushi it was glory at the first outing, same as sprinter Damayanthi Darsha, who claimed a bronze medal in the Women’s 200m in Hiroshima, Japan in 1994.
Her timing in Hangzhou was a bit slower than in Bangkok three months ago, where she clocked 2:00.06secs, to win the gold, and set a new Asian record. To have claimed five medals at Asian level – two gold, two silver and a bronze – before bidding farewell to the teenager years, is a rare dream to realize, but Tharushi is living her dream despite being challenged by certain entities, who call themselves ‘authorities’.
It was not that long ago when she was virtually bullied, by these shortsighted individuals, who refused access to Digana Stadium for training, with the reason being ‘not paying entry fees’. Now, she has paid back in full, with medals one only can claim after years of training and perfection, becoming the seventh Sri Lankan to win a gold medal at Asian Games and third behind her idols Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Darsha.
After the recent trump Tharushi was showered with love, praise and
Sri Lanka Cricket, stepped forward to grant her a cash reward of Rs.10 million, which would benefit the youngster in her bright athletic career. Incidentally, she is still a schoolgirl, who is yet to complete her academic and school career at A. Ratnayake Central College in Walala, Kandy, a haven for future track and field athletes of Sri Lanka.
Her second medal at the Asian Games, a bronze in the Women’s 4x400m event alongside Nadeesha Ramanayake, Jayeshi Uththara and Lakshima Mendis, became a possibility after Tharushi’s trademark sprint in the final lap, which culminated with a timing of 3:30.88secs. Sri Lanka was placed fourth until the third baton change when Tharushi raced down to edge out the Vietnamese team in the final lap, which was recorded as a remarkable 51.06secs.
Overall, Sri Lanka won a total of five medals – four from athletics apart from the silver medal won by the Women’s Cricket team. Tharushi accounted for two out of the five, which included two individual and three from team events. The individual medals were from Tharushi, a gold in the Women’s 800m and the silver medal won by Dilhani Lekamge, who cleared a distance of 61.57m in the Women’s Javelin Throw, incidentally it was the first medal for Sri Lanka in throwing and the first medal in athletics in 17 years at the Games.
Apart from the Women’s Cricket team’s silver medal, Sri Lanka won two bronze medals, in the Women’s 4x400m and Men’s 4x400m relay events. The men’s 4×400 relay team included Aruna Darshana, Kalinga Kumarage, Pabasara Niku and Rajitha Rajakaruna.
For Tharushi, she’s part of a couple of more records – the first Sri Lankan athlete to win any medal in 800m, and the first medal in 4x400m relay. As for the young teenager, who follows the philosophy of ‘nothing is impossible’ her dream is to win a medal at an Olympic, and that too a gold. A possible slogan that has already paid dividends to her short and yet illustrious career.