Sports Ministry distributes cash rewards worth Rs. 120mn to international athletes
The Ministry of Sports awarded financial sponsorship of Rs. 1mn each to the six athletes participating in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at a ceremony held at the Duncan White Auditorium in Colombo yesterday.
The Ministry also distributed cash awards totaling Rs. 120.80mn to athletes and coaches who won medals or placed in the top eight positions at the last Asian Games and Asian Para Games in Hangzhou, China.
The rugby players from Badulla Haddattawa National School were also provided with necessary sports equipment, and the school rugby team travelled to Colombo at the minister’s invitation. Minister of Sports Harin Fernando emphasised that this initiative aims to encourage athletes even amidst the country’s serious financial crisis.
Out of the six Olympians en route to Paris only three were present to accept their financial sponsorships at yesterday’s ceremony. They were track and field athletes Tharushi Karunaratne, Dilhani Lekamge and Aruna Darshana, while shuttler Viren Nettasinghe, and swimmers Kyle Abeysinghe and Ganga Seneviratne, who had already departed Sri Lanka to Paris, could not attend the event.
Pix by Eshan Fernando