Sri Lanka’s premier 100m runner in this modern era – Yupun Abeykoon – concluded this season scripting a successful version of it clocking 10.14s (-0.3m/s), in the 100m finals at the Diamond League on Friday.
Abeykoon, Sri Lanka’s first-ever athlete to feature in the Diamond League, the season-ending athletic meet, which ended on Friday at Zurich, Switzerland, ran finishing in fifth place.
South Asia’s fastest man was also the solitary Asian to run against the likes of Olympians – Yohan Blake and Andre De Gasse.
Olympian Abeykoon, based in Italy, went into the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games, Birmingham, under much-anticipation. However, he lived up to expectations bagging a bronze with a timing of 10.14s.
The running force had been on a record-breaking spree all-year this year, when he peaked his performance posting a 9.96s, the first Lankan to break the sub 10-second mark.
“5th in the Zurich Diamond League finals with a timing of 10.14 seconds. I came here and I did it and I did by best! Super happy to be among these top giants in athletics and the best out of all the sprinters in the world and to be able to be competing with and against them. This adds to one of my best moments in life. Thank you to my team, for all your blessings and love shared towards me all this years and will promise to do my best always” Abeykoon wrote in his facebook page after the race.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
Read these and more on tomorrow’s edition of the Sunday Times
Cabinet has approved the appointment of Commodore (retired) M.B.N.A. Premaratne of the Sri Lanka Navy, as the new Commissioner General of Excise.
Villagers in Nirmalapura, Daluwa, Norochcholai today staged a protest over an incident where a group of Navy officials and sailors had assaulted a resident in the area over night, Police said.
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