MAS Athletic Academy’s youngsters set new South Asian records
View(s):A notable factor of this achievement was five out of the eight gold medals came with new meet records, competed among 173 athletes representing all the countries of the South Asian region. India finished on top claiming the majority of medals in the competition held during the three days from September 11 to 13.
Sandun Kosala
The high performance of
Sri Lankan athletes was evident in this competition, held among the junior athletes of the Under-20 age category. The notable achievements of the Sri Lankan athletes at the South Asian regional meet was more distinct as they managed to challenge India, which represents one fifth of the world’s population, to record these victories. Among the 53 athletes who represented the Sri Lankan youth athletics team, 21 came from the MAS Athletic Academy, with among 19 participants 17 of them contributed to a medal.
Meron Wijesinghe of MAS Athletic Academy won the gold medal in the Men’s 100m sprint event, which was the highlight event in the tournament. He set a new meet record by finishing the sprint with a timing of 10.41 seconds. It was Meron’s personal best timing as well as a meet record in the event. He was also a member of the 4x100m Men’s Relay event that won
the gold medal with a new meet record. Indusara Vidushan and Malith Kaushan Thamel were other sprinters from MAS Athletic Academy who competed alongside Meron in the relay.
R.I. Vidushan
H.D.S. Awishka
Another event that grabbed the attention of the meet was the Men’s 200m sprint, where
Sri Lankan youth athletes won both the gold and bronze medals. Indusara won the gold medal with a new meet record while Malith Kauvshan was placed third for the bronze medal.
Shavindu Avishka, who represented the Men’s 800m event, won the gold medal with a new meet record. Shavindu recorded clocked 1:49.83 seconds to claim the gold. Lesandu Arthavidu also won a gold medal in the Men’s High Jump, clearing a height of 2.17 metres, while recording his personal best performance with a meet record. In addition Sandun Kosala and Tharushi Abhisheka of MAS Athletic Academy also won gold medals.
Sandun, who competed the Men’s 110m Hurdles event, won the gold medal with a timing of 14.06 seconds while Abhisheka, who competed in the Women’s 800m event, also won the gold medal with a timing of 2:10.17 seconds. In addition other athletes who represented MAS Athletic Academy were able to claim three silver and five bronze medals.
The main objective of the MAS Athletic Academy, which was established in 2024, is to identify and train young athletes targeting the Olympic Games in 2028 and 2032 through a systematic approach. This programme is implemented in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Sports, the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Olympians. The project is fully funded and nurtured by MAS Holdings with an estimated total cost of
Rs. 650 million.
Currently, 55 athletes are enrolled with MAS Athletic Academy and arrangements have been made to fully provide these youngsters including the cost of their local and international training, costs at local and international meets, and costs involving transportation, food, clothing, nutrition and education needs.
Also, it has been decided to provide necessary expenses to the coaches and trainers of these players and plans are afoot to provide them a monthly allowance as well. Presently, the best among youth athletes in
Sri Lanka have been screened and selected to MAS Athletic Academy, with the intention of improving their skills and aiming for international medals.
Lesandu Arthavidu
M.G.T. Abhisheka
Merone Wijesinghe