Nilani wins unplanned Gold medal in 1500M

Nilani Rathnayaka, the Sri Lankan record holder in the 5000m and 3000m steeple chase, wasn’t confirmed to run the 1500m at the Games until Monday evening. But on Tuesday , she produced a stunning final sprint to win the Gold medal clocking 4 minutes 34.34 seconds, and filling the void created by Nimali Liyanarachchi, at least in the 1500m.

Nilani’s pet event, the 3000m steeple chase, wasn’t even included in the SAG list, and she almost found herself out of the team until Hiruni Wijayarathne withdrew from the 5000m allowing Nilani Rathnayaka to get into the team.

Following Nimali Liyanarachchi’s unfortunate accident, the Sri Lanka team management was able to include Nilani for the 1500m in place of the National Champion and SL record holder Nimali, where Nilani did the biggest justification possible for it by winning the Gold medal.

“I told Nimali’s coach too that I will fulfill Nimali’s duty in her absence,” said a jubilant Nilani following the race.

What’s so special about the win was that she was competing against defending SAG champion and two time Asian Champion P.U. Chithra, and was still able to win the Gold medal in a thrilling finish.

Nilani, the 29-year-old former athlete from Sumana BV Vidyalaya, Ratnapura, is employed by the Army and trained by the Director of the National Institute of Sports Science, Sajith Jayalal.

 

 

100M

Himasha Eashan, the South Asian 100m record holder and a seasonal best of 10.22 seconds, could not defend his title as Maldives’ Saaid Hassan beat him on the line, clocking 10.49 seconds. Eashan won the Silver medal, while Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva looked out of form from the heats. After crossing the finish line in the final he fell down and bruised himself badly.

In the women’s 100m (running to a head wind of -0.8 m/s), 20-year-old Amasha de Silva won the Silver medal clocking 11.82 seconds, while Lakshika Sugandhi clocked a personal best 11.84 seconds to win Bronze. The Gold medal was won by India’s Archana Suseent with a time of 11.80 seconds.

Sri Lankan hopes for the 10,000m Gold medal did not go as planned, as favourite Hiruni Wijayarathne (who seems to be running with her marathon pace), finished in fourth place. However, the barefooted Nilani Lanka Ariyadasa won the Bronze medal.

The other Silver medal was won by Dulanjalee Ranasinghe in the high jump. Sri Lanka finished without medals in both the men’s 1500m and the high jump.

 

 

 

Decathlon Gold

Eranga Dulakshi, former 3000m steeple chase record holder, could not get into the SAG athletics team this time. But she made sure she of making the trip to Nepal as she qualified via the triathlon team. Her inclusion was justified when she won Decathlon Gold medal (5km run followed by 20km cycling and another 2.5km run) yesterday at Pokhara. Team mate Udaya Kumari finished third to clinch the Bronze medal.

Results

Women

High Jump: 1. Jishna M (India) 1.73m, 2. Dulanjalee Ranasinghe (Sri Lanka) 1.69m, 3. Rubna Yadav (India) 1.69m

100m: 1. Archana Suseent (India) 11.80 sec, 2. Amasha de Silva (Sri Lanka) 11.82 sec, 3. Lakshika Sugandhi (Sri Lanka) 11.84 sec

10,000m: 1. Santoshi Shrestha 35:07.94 sec, 2. Kavita Yadav (India) 35:7.95 sec, 3. Nilani Lanka Ariyadasa (Sri Lanka ) 35.59.02 sec

1500m: 1. Nilani Rathnayaka (Sri Lanka) 4:34.34 sec, 2. Chanda (India) 4:34.51 sec, 3. P.U. Chithra (India) 4:35.46 sec

Men

High Jump: 1. Anil Sarvesh (India ) 2.21m, 2. Chethan Balasub (India) 2.16m, 3. Mahafuzur Rahaman (Bangladesh) 2.16m

1500m : 1. Ajay Kumar Saro (India) 3:54.18 sec, 2. Ajeet Kumar (India) 3:57.18 sec, 3. Tanka Karki (Nepal) 3:59.20 sec

100m: 1. Saaid Hassan (Maldives) 10.49 sec, 2. Himasha Eashan (Sri Lanka) 10.50 sec, 3. Sami Ullah (Pakistan) 10.66 sec