Artillery dominates – two Sri Lankan records broken

Aruna Darshana’s flying last legs helped Artillery Regiment to finish the day on top with two Gold medals, but it was Rusiru Chathuranga’s heroics for Gemunu Watch which was the highlight of the day as he chased down National 1500m champ Kupun Kushantha in the last leg of the 4x1500m relay at the Army Relay Carnival held at Sugathadasa Stadium .

Initially, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Unit (SLEME) team held a lead of a few metres in the last leg and thought they were well on course for another Gold medal with the new National champion Kushantha, who won the title just four days ago, running the last leg. But Rusiru Chathuranga , the Asian Championship participant from Gemunu Watch, had other things on his mind, as his customary sprint was too much for Kushantha to handle and  Gemunu Watch went on to set a new Sri Lanka record over the distance.

Darshana, the Asian Junior 400m Gold medalist in 2018, anchored the Artillery 4x200m and Medley, sealing Gold on both occasions. In the 200m, Aruna had to bring out his best as he chased down former 200m National Champion Mohammed Rajaskhan, while in the 400m he had to hold off the in-form Indunil Herath.

SLEME finished the day with only one Gold medal, which came in 4x800M.

In the Women’s relays 5^th Army Women’s Corps dominated winning three Gold medals. They set a new Sri Lanka record in the 4x200m, a new meet record in the Medley relay and won the 4x800m with ease.

Over 90% of the National Champions are from the Army, and the relays were very exciting. They will be back in few days for the Army Athletics Championship which is to be held from 26^th to 28^th this month.

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EVENT VIDEOS 

Men

4x 200M:

1. Artillery 1:24.48 sec, 2. SLEME 1:24.90 sec, 3. SLASC 1:25.64 sec

4x 800M:

1. SLEME 7:27.40 sec, 2. Gemunu Watch 7:30.56 sec, 3. Artillery 7:33.17 sec

4x 1500M:

1. Gemunu Watch 15:44.37 sec, 2. SLEME 15:44.41 sec, 3. SLLI 16:02.69 sec

Medley: 

1. Artillery 1:52.72 sec, 2. SLEME 1:52.77 sec, 3. SLASC 1:53.94 sec

Women

4x200M:

1. 5(V) SLAWC 1:37.87 sec, 2. SLSC 1:43.77 sec, 3. 2(V) SLAWC 1:44.01 sec

4x800M:

1. 5(V) SLAWC 10:16.00 sec, 2. SLSC (W) 10:46.98 sec, 3. SLAGSC 13:08.24 sec

4x1500M:

1. 4(V) SLAWC 20:28.74 sec, 2. SLSC (W) 22:59.99 sec, 3. SLAGSC (W) 28:11.21 sec

Medley Relay:

1. 5(V) SLAWC 2:10.75 sec, 2. SLSC 2:21.04 sec, 3. 2(V) SLAWC 2:22.10 sec