Nimali’s dream came true unexpectedly
Two years ago, a few days before the South Asian Games 2019, Nimali Liyanarachchi, who was a prime Gold medal hope for the country, faced an unfortunate road accident in Thalawathugoda, which left her with a broken arm on a hospital bed, shattering her dream of glory at the SAG.
While her fellow teammates won medals and basked in their success, Nimali was struggling to get back to the track. Her dream of making it to the 2020 Olympics too, was fading, and she was already making plans on competing as a Para athlete, imagining the worst case scenario.
But COVID-19 came as blessing in disguise for the 32-year-old. She had ample time to recover and became stronger day by day, and with the limited opportunities she got to compete, she regained her form and was ranked in the 50s in world ranking in the 800m, just outside the quota of 48 who would be getting a chance to compete at the Olympics.
She was then set to compete in Kazakhstan – a World Athletics bronze medal competition – which would have given her enough points to break into the quota of 48 and get automatic qualification, but due to a visa issue the Sri Lankan contingent were unable to travel for that competition, and ultimately she finished 55th in world ranking, seven places away from Olympic Qualification.
By that time Sri Lanka did not have a single female track and field athlete who had qualified for Tokyo Olympics. The World Governing Body grants one invitational entry per country for track and field, and Sri Lanka Athletics recommended Nimali, as she was the highest ranked among the rest, and Nimali’s dream of participating in the Olympics came true, albeit through a chaotic buildup.
Hailing from Sooriyawewa and training under Sujith Abeysekara, Nimali has a long career in athletics, and an even longer story. She became Asian Championship Gold medalist in 2017 and qualified for the World Championship the same year. Apart from that, she has represented Sri Lanka at five Asian Championships (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019), and became the sole medalist in the 2015 edition.
She represented the country at the Commonwealth Games (2014, 2018) and Asian Games (2018). She won a Gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games, Bronze medal at the 2019 Asian Indoor Championship and a Silver medal at the 2019 World Military games.
She broke the long standing Sri Lanka National record of the 800m in 2016 in Jaffna, and still holds the 1500m record.
Following a difficult childhood, Nimali has come a long way from a kid who couldn’t really figure out which events she should focus on, to become an Olympian in her pet event – the 800m. After a 12-year career as a senior athlete, she has several achievements.
Nimali is employed by the Sri Lanka Air Force, and since last March has been funded by the Sports Ministry. She has not received any funding from the National Olympic Committee in recent times.
Event time
800M Women Heat – July 30-6.25am
