No trials before Nationals in April : 2021 Athletics Calendar
The 99th National Athletics Championship 2021 will be the first National Athletics event for 2021, as there won’t be any trials scheduled before that, Sri Lanka Athletics Calendar for 2021 confirms.
According to the recorder and senior official of SLA, Saman Kumara Gunawardana, scheduling a trial in March isn’t possible, as the Army Athletics Championship is scheduled from 22-24. In addition, more than 90% of the National Athletes are employed in the Army and will be participating in that Championship.
The first competition for this year will be the National Sports Festival’s Marathon Championship to be held on 6 February, which SLA will use to finalize the marathon pool. At the moment, Hiruni Wijayarathne is the only Marathoner included in the elite National pool.
The Championship will also be used as a selection trial for the Asian Athletics Championship to be held in Hangzhou China from 20-23 May. Athletes will also get the chance to compete at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games to be held in Pattaya from 27-29 May. All three competitions will yield a higher placing score which will come in handy for athletes to boost their World Ranking position ahead of the Olympic Games to be held from 23 July to 08 August.
Relay teams will have a better chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games during the World Relay Championship to be held on 01-02 May in Poland, where the top eight finishers will be entitled to an Olympic berth. Meanwhile, the inaugural Asian Relays which was to be held in Thailand this year hasn’t been confirmed yet, and if held, Relay teams will have at least three competitions prior to the Olympics, with the Asian Championship relays too set to be included.
Apart from that, SLA is currently on the lookout for more competitions for Sri Lanka’s top athletes, especially in the European circuit, which will be beneficial for them to perform and to help boost their world ranking points. With the new world ranking system coming in to play for Olympic slots, many top athletes are also on the lookout for competition in the European circuit, and SLA said this has made it difficult for SL athletes to find a slot.
Apart from major competitions, SL athletes will also have an opportunity to compete in various Open Championships in Asian countries, which also gives a higher placing score. Competitions such as the Brunei open, Vietnam open and Malaysian open, will offer valuable competition for SL athletes now, though those were neglected in the past with Sports Ministry even refusing to fund athletes for those competition during last two years.
The Asian Grand Prix series is scheduled to be held this year prior to the Olympics, but dates and venues have not been finalised yet.
On 16-17 October SLA will conduct National trials to select pools for the 2022 Asian and Commonwealth Games, while Defense Services Athletics Championship too will be held the same month. Many other competitions such as National Sports Festival, National Youth Sports Festival, All Island School Games, Sir John Tarbet senior Athletics Championship, too, will be held during the months of September/October depending on the COVID-19 situation in the country at that time.
On the Junior front, Junior National Athletics Championship will be held in early May, which will serve as selection trials for the World Junior Championship to be held on 17-22 August in Kenya. Apart from that, the Asian Youth Games is scheduled to be held in November in China, while the Asian Youth Championship – which was to be held early this year – got postponed. The Asian Marathon Championship and Asian Beach Games too were postponed, while the Commonwealth Youth Games which was scheduled to be held this year will not be held.
Two test events for Athletes selected for a special project by World Athletics (400m and 3000m steeple chase) will be held in March and August.
Athletics Calendar 2021 (Subject to Change)
February
06 NSF Marathon
March
17-18 Army Relay Carnival (Colombo)
22-24 Army Athletics Championship (Colombo)
27 AOD Project Test Competition – 1 (Colombo/Diyagama)
April
8-10 99th National Championships (Colombo/Diyagama)
May
1-2 World Relays (Poland)
6-9 Junior National Championships (Colombo/Diyagama)
20-24 Asian Athletics Championships (Hangzhou, China)
27-29 Asian Indoor & Martial Arts Games (Bangkok, Pattaya)
June
5-6 Taiwan Open Athletics Meet (Taipei)
12-13 International Meet (Tamara Kolpakova) (Bishkek, KGZ)
19-20 International Meeting (G. Qosanov Memorial) (Almaty, KAZ)
July
18 18th Asian Marathon Championships (Pattaya, Thailand)
23-8 Aug Summer Olympic Games (Tokyo)
August
17-22 World Junior Championships (Nairobi, Kenya)
28 AOD Project Test Competition – 2 (Colombo/Diyagama)
September
11-12 Asian Throwing Championships (Mokpo, Korea)
October
TBC Defense Services Athletics Championship 2020
16-17 Pool Selection Trial for Asian/Commonwealth Games 2022 (Colombo/Diyagama)
November
TBC Asian Half Marathon Championships (Kanchanaburi, Thailand)
24-27 3rd Asian Youth Games (Shantou, China)
December
12 Kunming International Marathon (Kungming, China)
Other Local Competition to be held this year
National Spots Festival (including GS, District, Provincial level competitions)
National Youth Sports Festival (including District level competition)
NSF Cross Country Championship
NSF Race Walking Championship
All Island School Games (including Zonal,District Provincial Games)
Sir John Tarbat Junior Athletics Championship
Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championship
Inter Sports School Athletics Championship
Other International Competitions to be held this year
Asian Grand Prix (China/Thailand)
Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon (Hong Kong)
Taipei City Marathon (Taipei)
Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships (India)
Thailand Open T & F Championships (Bangkok)
Philippines Open Athletic Championships (Philippines)
Malaysian Open Athletic Championships (Penang)
Korea Open Athletics Meeting ( South Korea)
Vietnam Open Championships ( Vietnam)
