Athletics: Sri Lanka wins eight medals, with four golds at Special Olympics

Sri Lankan contingent at the Special Olympics 2015 brought honor and fame to the motherland by winning four gold, two silver and two bronze medals.   Sri Lanka fielded seven athletes who competed in athletics and badminton at the Special Olympics, 2015 in Los Angeles, USA.   Agbo Jayawardana won brought two gold medals when he won the men’s 200m Division 52 and men’s 100m Division 62 events.   He clocked 42.76 seconds in men’s 200m Division 52 and recorded a time of 19.02 seconds in men’s 100m Division 62.   He also competed in men’s 100m Division 60 and men’s 200m Division 46 but was not able to win a podium finish.   Diliki Fernando won the first gold medal for Sri Lanka when she completed the women’s 400m Division 08 event with a time of one minute 20.10 seconds.   Apart from that she competed in the women’s 200m Division 19, and finished sixth. She also competed in the women’s 400m Division 10 event.   Preethika Gamage gave Sri Lanka’s first silver medal when she was placed second in the women’s 1500m Division 01.   She made Sri Lanka proud again when she clinched the bronze medal in women’s 800m Division 02.   Manojan Jayachandran is the other silver medalist for Sri Lanka.   He competed in men’s 100m Division 54 and clocked 24.48 seconds to take the medal.   Thilan Vitharana bagged Sri Lanka’s second bronze medal competing in the men’s Singles badminton MCG9 event.   Mayooran Arsakulasooriyan also won a bronze medal when he ran in the men’s 100m Division 61. In the men’s 200m Division 47 event, he finished sixth.   Meanwhile Sureka Gammaddage competed in the women’s 100m division 03 and finished fifth.   She missed the bronze medal in women’s Long Jump Division F10 by just few centimetres.   She managed to finish fourth in the overall positions with a jump of 2.86m.   Overall the performance of the Sri Lankans is commendable and they were able to make a mark in the Special Olympics 2015.   The number of Lankan participants for this year’s event was less than in 2013 due to the unavailability of funds.   Bank of Ceylon came forward to provide financial assistance to the contingent in the eleventh hour for the air passage.   Kompass Consultancy- Dubai provided the official attire and the tracks kits for the Sri Lankan contingent and Bata Shoe Company – Sri Lanka provided the athletes the required running shoes.   Special Olympics held in every two years and summer, over 6,500 athletes from 165 countries descended upon Los Angeles to show the true meaning of courage, joy and determination.   Athletes competed in 25 different sports at venues throughout Los Angeles, including USC and UCLA.   The Special Olympic in 2017 will be held in Austria.   Medal winners for Sri Lanka   Agbo Jayawardana: Two gold medals (athletics)   Diliki Fernando: Gold medal (athletics)   Thilan Vitharana: Gold medal (Badminton)   Preethika Gamage: One silver one bronze (athletics)   Manojan Jayachandran: Silver medal (athletics)   Mayooran Arsakulasooriyan: Bronze medal (athletics)