End of an Era, Shehan Ambepitiya calls it a day
Sprinter Shehan Ambepitiya, who at one time was the fastest man in South Asia, ended his track career, following the 200m heats at the 97th National Athletics Championship on Saturday.
The 29 year old famously won three Gold medals at the 2008 Youth Commonwealth Games in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay, shattering the meet records. At the time he was among the eight fastest junior sprinters in the world, becoming a finalist in the IAAF World Junior Championship.
Shehan won the South Asian Games 100m in 2010 and was the poster boy of Sri Lankan athletics for a while. He was fortunate to train alongside World’s fastest human, Usain Bolt, when Shahan was training under his coach Glen Mills in Jamaica for a while.
“It has been a great journey and I’m very happy and proud for all what has been achieved, specially about my Youth Commonwealth triple Gold medals and becoming a finalist at the World Juniors “said Shehan following his retirement and the crowds applaud him for his years of services to Track & Field.
“There were several doubters during my career. Many told me just to enjoy myself during that Youth Commonwealth Games tour and the South Asian Games; they did not think I’m capable of winning those. So my message for youngsters is never to doubt yourself and give up “said Shehan.
Former Gateway College sprinter, Shehan had represented Sri Lanka at several International events until 2018, including the Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Championship and was part of the 4x100m relay team which holds the present Sri Lanka record and finished sixth in the finals at the Commonwealth Games 2018. Having a personal best of 10.31 seconds when still a teenager, Shehan was reckoned the future of Sri Lanka sprinting but injuries prevented him from achieving the highest standards one would have opted for, during his career as a youngster, though he excelled for a number of years even without been at his best.
