SLA’s Olympic dreams narrowed: Sri Lanka sends three track and field athletes to Paris
Major General Palitha Fernando, the President of SLA, told reporters in Colombo earlier this week that his association’s original plan was to have seven track and field athletes representing Sri Lanka, but eventually they ended up with only three – Tharushi Karunaratne, Dilhani Lekamge and Aruna Darshana.
“We earmarked the Olympic potential athletes way back and gave them exposure as much as possible. Then when it came to the qualification period, things varied and we had to contend with only three athletes qualifying through rakings and the points system,” Fernando told reporters.
As Fernando revealed, in their original plan SLA had seven track and field athletes in their radar, besides the Men’s 4x400m Relay team, who missed out on the golden opportunity after logistical issues came as a major obstacle. The quartet included Aruna Dharshana, Kalinga Kumarage, Rajitha Rajakaruna and Pabasara Niku, who were well within the qualifying range, but later had to look at other options after an issue in obtaining visas prevented them from reaching the World Relay Championship in the Bahamas. Eventually, India, who were beaten previously by the Sri Lankan team, earned the qualification for the Olympics, dashing SLA’s hopes.
Olympic athletes Tharushi Karunaratne, Aruna Darshana and Dilhani Lekamge flanked by SLA officials Saman Kumara Gunawardena (L) and Maj. Gen. Palitha Fernando. Standing (from left) are coaches Asanka Rajakaruna (Darshana’s coach), Nishantha Pradeep (Lekamge’s coach) and Susantha Fernando (Karunaratne’s coach)
“We were highly optimistic of seeing potential athletes like Yupun Abeykoon, Kalinga Kumarage, Sumedha Ranasinghe and a few others gain Olympic qualification, direct or through rankings. With that in mind, SLA made sure all these athletes competed in at least 10 major international meets. This was essential for them to gain points within the 12-month qualification period that began on July 1, 2023,” explained Saman Kumara Gunawardena, the General Secretary of SLA.
Yupun Abeykoon, the first Sri Lankan sprinter to record a sub-10 second in the Men’s 100m, was plagued with injuries towards the latter part of his Olympic qualifying campaign, forcing him to pull out from at least two Grand Prix events. Kalinga Kumarage, the Men’s 400m runner, who was much favoured than his counterpart Aruna Darshana, too experienced a similar fate.
Others in the radar, Women’s 400m runner Nadeesha Ramanayake, Women’s 800m runner Gayanthika Abeyratne and Men’s Javelin Throw athlete Sumedha Ranasinghe were evidently facing a decline in their usual performances.
The three athletes intact with Olympic hopes were Women’s 800m runner Tharushi Karunaratne, Women’s Javelin Thrower Dilhani Lekamge and Men’s 400m runner Aruna Darshana. The three eventually qualified through final rankings, as confirmed by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) after the Olympic qualification period ended on June 30.
However, Sri Lanka uncovered a late discovery in Men’s Javelin Throw, when Rumesh Tharanga, still 21, came within the reach of qualifying for the Olympics with a clearance of 85.45m at the Asian Throwing Championship held in Mokpo, South Korea. His senior, Ranasinghe, was far behind the youngster at the same event.
“Rumesh was not among the Olympic potentials, when SLA first listed out the potentials last year. He was reaching a good distance, but our intention in sending him for the Asian Throwing Meet was different. He was nearing the 80m mark, and we tasked him to hit that range in South Korea. But impressively he went beyond that, missing a possible direct qualification by just a difference of five metres,” clarified Fernando, who stated that the young thrower has already been elevated to elite status, with future international events in mind.
Dilhani Lekamge, 36, stands as the highest-ranked Sri Lankan athlete in the Paris Olympics ranking list, ranked 25th among top 32 qualifiers. She already has a silver medal each at Asian Games 2022 and Asian Athletics Championship 2017 and a bronze medal at the Asian Athletic Championhip 2023.
Tharushi Karunarathne, still 19, has already impressed as a potential Olympic medal winner for Sri Lanka. Her recent performances at the 2023 Asian Athletic Championship, where she set up a new Asian record in the Women’s 800m event with a timing of 2:00.06secs, bears as a testament. Karunaratne is currently ranked 44th among the top 48 qualifiers for the Olympics.
Aruna Darshana, 25, ranked 47th among the top 48, is the only male track athlete participating in the Olympics this year. He is the first athlete from Sri Lanka to qualify for the Olympic 400m event after 20 years, after receiving a reallocated quota spot.
So far, since the inception of the Modern Day Olympic Games in 1948, track and field holds major honours in more than one aspect. From a total of 126 athletes represented the country since 1948, track and field has produced 57 Olympians and Sri Lanka’s only two Olympic medals. The country first won an Olympic silver medal through Duncan White in the Men’s 400m Hurdles held in the 1948 London Games. Sri Lanka had to wait 52 years until Susanthika Jayasinghe claimed the silver medal in the Women’s 200m at 2000 Sydney Games for their second Olympic medal. With Lekamge, Karunaratne and Darshana bound to 2024 Paris, the total number of track and field athletes to represent Sri Lanka, becomes 60.