Nadeesha, Kalinga mark return with double Gold
Sprinters Nadeesha Ramanayaka and Kalinga Kumarage made a memorable return to the track as the duo finished with two Gold medals each at the 98th National Athletics Championship concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium .
Nadeesha, who was favourite to win the South Asian Games 400m Gold medal,was most unfortunate at last year’s SAG, when she was felledby Dengue and spent most of her stay in a Nepal hospital. She had to wait for a year to make a comeback, and what a comeback it was when she won both the 200m and 400m, beating South Asian Games Gold medalist Dilshi Kumarasinghe in the 400m clocking 53.47 seconds.
Kalinga Kumarage who was caught up in a doping scandal in 2018, was cleared after a lengthy legal battle, and making a comeback after a two-year lapse, he too won both the 200m and 400m. Defending SAG Gold medalist Aruna Darshana did not have much opportunity to train for the Nationals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and finished third in the 400m.
Gayanthika Abeyrathne shone in the 1500m, clocking an impressive 4 minutes 17 seconds to win the event, beating National record holder Nimali Liyanarachchi, while Saman Fernando won his first National title when he won the men’s 5000m.
Triple Jumper Sanjaya Jayasinghe suffered a hamstring injury after two jumpsand could not continue thereafter,but that was enough for him to seal the National title with a 16.32m leap.He beat National record holder Sreshan Dhananjayainto second place. Decathlon National record holder Ajith Karunathilaka completed yet another victory scoring 7059 points.
Sri Lanka Athletics did not offer any special awards since the championship was held adhering to COVID-19 prevention medical guidelines. However, Dilshi Kumarasinghe’s 800m time of 2 minutes 02.57 seconds stood out as the best performance of the meet, which is equal to 1113 World Athletics scoring points.
The top three performers of this Championship were all women. Apart from Dilshi, the other two are 800m runners Nimali Liyanarachchi(02:03.20 sec) equaling to 1106 pointsand Gayanthika Abeyrathne (02:03.53 seconds) equaling to 1100 points.
Kalinga Kumaragewas ranked as the top male performer. His winning time of 46.25 seconds in the 400m gave him 1094 points. Himasha Eashan’s 10.27 seconds in the 100m is equal to 1115 points, but it will not be taken into account as he had a favourable wind of +2.4, which is above the legal limit of +2.0.
Results
Women
10000m: 1. M.N.Nandasena 35:21.11 sec, 2. K.M.Malinda 36:23.94 sec, 3.Lanka Ariyadasa 36:32.75 sec
Hammer Throw: 1. AruniLakshika 43.02m,2. ManojiAmarasinghe 42.25m, 3. WerangaThisarani 37.42m
1500M: 1. GayanthikaAbeyrathne 4:17.58 sec, 2. NilaniRathnayaka 4:21.28 sec, 3. NimaliLiyanarachchi 4:28.13 sec
400m: 1. NadeeshaRamanayaka 53.47 sec, 2. DilshiKumarasinghe 53.81 sec, 3. RomeshiAththidiya 57.45 sec
Men
Triple Jump:1. Sanjaya Jayasinghe 16.32m, 2. SreshanDhananjaya 16.12m, 3. G.V.Sandaruwan 15.84m
1500M: 1. Saman Kumara Fernando 3:47.86 sec, 2. Hemantha Kumara 3:49.02 sec, Darshana Lanka 3:50.84 sec
Hammer Throw: 1.Sisira Kumara 50.73m, 2. Sanjaya Bandara 49.59m, 3. D.M.Dharmasena 44.51m
400M: 1. Kalinga Kumarage 46.25 sec, 2. R.N.Rajakaruna 47.02 sec, 3. Aruna Darshana 47.04 sec
Decathlon: 1. Ajith Karunathilaka 7059 points, 2. Randika Gunasinghe 6316 points, 3. M.I.M.Asan 6096 points
Best Performance at 98th National Athletics Championship 2020
(As for World Athletics Scoring tables)
Dilshi Kumarasingh 800M- 02.02.80 sec – 1113 Points
Nimali Liyanarachchi -800m-02:03.20 sec – 1106 Points
Gayanthika Abeyrathne -800m- 02:03.53 sec- 1100 Points
Kalinga Kumarage -400M – 46.25 sec – 1094 Points
Sanjaya Jayasinghe – Triple Jump – 16.32 sec-1092 Points
Amasha de Silva-100M -11.55-1082 Points
Sreshan Dhananjaya –Long Jump -7.71m -1074 Points
Sreshan Dhananjaya –Triple Jump -16.12m -1071 Points
Nadeesha Ramanayaka –400M – 53.47 sec- 1070 Points
Sarangi Silva – Long Jump -6.33-1070 Points
Gayanthika Abeyrathne -1500M -4:17.58-1068 Points
Nilani Rathnayaka 3000m st ch -10:15.86 sec- 1057 points
Sumedha Ranasinghe –Javelin Throw -76.10m -1046 points
Ireshani Rajasinghe -100m hurdles -13.85 sec-1037 Points
Lakshika Sugandhi -100m hurdles -13.89 sec- 1032 points
Rusiru Chathuranga -800M- 01:49.82 sec – 1031 points
Asitha Rathnasena -400m hur-52.09 sec-1028 points
Hashini Balasooriya –Triple Jump-13.07m -1022 points
Nadeesha Ramayaka -200M – 24.15 sec- 1021 Points
Wind assisted performance
Himasa Eashan -100M – 10.27 (+2.7) – 1115 Points
Kalinga Kumarage -200M 20.79 (+2.4) -1098 Points
