Amila leaps 8.06m , adjudged best athlete – 97th National Championship

Sri Lanka long jump record holder Amila Jayasiri returned to form with a leap of 8.06m to win the national title as well as the Best Long Jumper title at the annual National Athletics championship 2019 concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday.

Jayasiri had been unfortunate to miss out on several major international competitions, failing to perform when it matters until now: finally succeeding in securing a berth in the SAG team as the country’s No: 1 long jumper.

In the morning’s session, Asian Championship triple jump bronze medalist Vidusha Lakshani excelled by shattering her own Sri Lanka record, one of three new Sri Lanka records established yesterday: by Nimali Liyanarachchi in the women’s1500m and Lakshika Sugandhi in the heptathlon.

Lakshani who had already won the long jump with a distance of 6.23m, achieved a distance of 13.66m in her second attempt in the triple jump event yesterday, toppling the record she set at Diyagama Stadium in the 2017 NAC: registering a rare double.

“All I wanted is to perform a good distance, I’m very happy about returning to the level I was at during 2017”, said Lakshani after her win.

Incidentally, both Vidusha and Lakshika were trained under Cuban coach Luis Miranda, who has improved the jumping standards of Sri Lanka athletes since the day he arrived.

Sri Lanka’s Iron Woman Lakshika Sugandhi won her third gold medal of the competition when she triumphed in the heptathlon, shattering her own Sri Lanka record with 5128 points in the process. She became the first female athlete in Sri Lanka to reach the 5000 points mark in a total of 11 events during the NAC – the heats and finals of the 100m and 110m hurdles and seven events of the women’s heptathlon, winning them all. She was especially impressive in clocking 24.50 seconds in the 200m and leaping 6.07m in the long jump, after clocking 13.59 seconds the other day to win the 100m hurdles.

The decathlon saw the emergence of a new champion as Raveendra Lakmal led the field with 6650 points.

Earlier in the day, US-based distance runner Hiruni Wijayarathne – who had come down to Colombo for the NAC in order to qualify for the SAG team – completed a distance double: following up her win in the 10000m on Saturday with a win in the 5000m event as well. She was closely challenged by Nilani Rathnayaka until there were four laps to go, when Nilani gave up the chase. Hiruni finished the event with a time of 16 minutes 54.9 seconds.

Kaushalya Madushani clocked her personal best and second best time by a Sri Lankan in the women’s 400m hurdles with a 58.16 seconds effort yesterday; while this year’s Asian Youth bronze medalist Amesha Hettiarachchi clocked 1 minute and 0.57 seconds in the same race to finish third and set a Sri Lanka junior record.

Olympian Sumedha Ranasinghe set a new meet record with a javelin throw of 80.76m, successfully fending off a performance of 79.87m by Waruna Lakshan Dayarathne.

Sri Lanka record holder Ishara Sandaruwan cleared 5.01m in the men’s pole vault to set a new meet record. Sandaruwan had an unfortunate incident during the competition when the crossbar in use was broken, and upon being informed by officials that there was no replacement Ishara and his coach patched the broken crossbar with plasters; once it was repaired a new crossbar was produced, but the real damage done was to Ishara’s rhythm and mindset – which negated his hope of setting a new national record.

In other events of the day, Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva and Sharmila Jan won the men’s and women’s 200m respectively, while Indunil Herath returned to win his pet event after a setback earlier this year where he failed to make it into the Asian Championship team.

Special Awards:
Overall Best Athlete – Amila Jayasiri (Long Jump 8.06m)
Best Male Athlete – Amila Jayasiri (Long Jump 8.06m)
Best Female Athlete – Nilani Rathnayaka (3000m Steeplechase 9:50.74)
Men
Best Hurdler: Asitha Rathnasena (400m Hurdles 51.6 secs)
Best Javelin Thrower: Sumedha Ranasinghe (Javelin Throw 80.76m)
Best Long Jumper: Amila Jayasiri (Long Jump 8.06m)
Best Sprinter: Aruna Darshana (400m 46.86 secs)
Best High Jumper: Ushan Thiwanka (High Jump 2.13m)
Best Middle Distance Runner: Indunil Herath (800m 1:49.01)
Women
Best Sprinter: Nadeesha Ramanayaka (400m 53.11 secs)
Best Middle Distance Runner: Nilani Rathnayaka (3000m Steeplechase 9:50.74)
Best Long Distance Runner: Hiruni Wijerathne (10000m 35:30.00)
Best Hurdler: Kaushalya Madushani (58.16 secs)
Best Jumper: Vidusha Lakshani (Triple Jump 13.66m)
Best Javelin Thrower: Nadeeka Lakmali (Javelin Throw 57.19m)