Four stars return to track after forgetful 2019

Four of the top National Athletes, who missed out on competing in the South Asian Games last year due to various unfortunate reasons, will be marking their return to the track during the 98th National Athletics Championship 2020, which will be held from 26 to 29 December at the Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo.

All four of them have won medals for Sri Lanka in the international arena while were on top of their events, and will be eyeing to maintain the same standard during the Nationals, which will be a big boost for Sri Lanka Athletics with a busy year ahead which includes major championships such as the inaugural Asian Relay Championship, Asian Athletics Championship, World Relays and the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Rumeshika Rathnayaka (24 years) – 100m & 200m

The sprinter had a promising career lined up when she clocked 11.64 seconds in the 100m as a 19-year-old to win the Gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games to become the fastest women of South Asia. She represented Sri Lanka at various junior international events before making her senior debut in 2015 at the Asian Championship as an 18-year-old. Apart from SAG, she has won a Silver medal in the 200m at the 2017 Asian Championship clocking 23.40 seconds, while also qualifying for the semi-final of the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

Her timing in the 100m and 200m are only behind Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha, reflecting the talent she had as a youngster. But, 2019 was just not her year as she had personal battles to overcome, and then she quit her job in the Army which left her without an income to meet her daily needs. To top that her South Asian Games trial – the only competition she took part in 2019 in Sri Lanka – did not go as planned, as she gave up after about 60m grabbing her hamstring, indicating she wasn’t fully fit, which saw her South Asian Games ticket fly away and dashing her chance of defending her title in Nepal.Most of the months this year were wasted due to the pandemic. She has been away from the track for too long, though she has tried to maintain her training schedule.

National Olympic Committee helped her to get back on track with a grant and helping her with her training, where she is now eyeing to compete in the forthcoming Nationals to regain her title as the fastest SL woman. She will be up against two South Asian Games medalists, Laksihka Sugandhi and Amasha de Silva in the 100m, and it is sure to be an interesting race despite limited participation.

Nadeesha Ramanayaka (26 years) – 200m & 400m

Hailing from Weeraketiya, Nadeesha had a horrible experience during the South Asian Games. Dengue fever which struck the Sri Lanka team cost her at least two Gold medals, both of which would have been won by her easily judging by her timing and form she was in going into the South Asian Games.Nadeesha, who clocked 53.03 seconds in the 400m was in prime form, while without any preparation she ran the 200m too and clocked 24.49 seconds, though she was capable of an easy sub 24 seconds with proper rest.

But her world fell apart when she was diagnosed with Dengue fever a day before the competition in Nepal during the SAG and was forced to spend most of her time on a hospital bed with tears in her eyes, rather than securing a Gold medal and enjoying the glory which she could have brought to her motherland.Dilshi Kumarasinghe, whom Nadeesha easily beat in Sri Lanka, rose to the occasion to win the 400m Gold medal clocking 53.40 seconds, while her heroics also helped Sri Lanka to secure the 4x400m Gold medal too.

Yet, Nadeesha couldn’t help but think that those two medals could have been hers though she was happy for Dilshi, as the two of them were good friends and roommates during residential training and tours. After breaking those horrible shackles, she has been training well in Matara, and eyeing to return to the track with an impressive performance. Her full focus will be towards just the 400m during the Nationals, to make a strong statement ahead of the 2021 season.

Nimali Liyanarachchi (31 years) – 800m & 1500m

Hailing from Sooriyawewa, Nimali is Sri Lanka’s prime middle-distance runner during the last decade, winning Asian Championship Bronze medal in 2015, South Asian Games Gold medal in 2016 and Asian Championship Gold medal in 2017, all for the 800m. Apart from that she had represented Sri Lanka at the 2013 Asian Championship, 2014 Commonwealth Games, 2018 Asian and Commonwealth Games and 2017 World Athletics championship.

After a mediocre 2018, she returned to prime form in 2019 ahead of the SAG clocking 2 minutes 02.65 seconds in the 800m, indicating an easy Gold medal at the South Asian Games. In addition to that, Nimali shattered the Sri Lanka record in the 1500m, clocking 4 minutes 15.86 seconds during the National Championship last year, and then qualified for the 4x400m women’s relay team, eyeing triple Gold medals at the SAG.Sri Lanka won Gold medals in all three events at the SAG but unfortunately Nimali was not part of it.

The Airwomen who was staying in Kottawa during the final few days of training before leaving to Nepal, met with an accident in Pannipitiya while riding her motor scooter for morning training, which left her with a broken hand and she was lying on a hospital bed while her teammates took wing.

The incident affected her mentally as well as financially. She could have easily grabbed the Rs.1.5 million in prize money alone for the three medals if she won. After months of rehabilitation followed by the pandemic, she is now eyeing for a glorious return to the track during the Nationals. Her main rival in the 800m will be young Dilshi Kumarasinghe, who rose to fame during last year’s SAG after winning triple Gold medals in the 800m, 400m and 4x400m.

Kalinga Kumarage (28 years)

400m Silver medalist at the 2017 Asian Athletics Championship, Kalinga was in prime form during the 2018 season. He was a finalist in the Asian Games 400m, while also anchoring Sri Lanka to 4th place in the 4x400m final. He clocked a personal best of 45.99 seconds in August, before being charged for the use of a banned substance later that year.He had a lengthy legal battle with the country›s anti-doping authorities, as he always maintained he wasn’t guilty of the charge. Finally, Kumarage was cleared to participate in competitions last year after more than a year of legal battles, and then he had to face the COVID-19 pandemic.

He is now ready to start from where he left off after a gap of more than two years since his last competition. He will be up against Aruna Darshana, the Asian Junior record holder and South Asian Games Gold medalist in the 400m as well as 200m, while Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva too will come into the mix in the 200m to make it one of the fastest 200m competitions to be held in Sri Lanka during recent times.