Four Sri Lanka records shattered at Nationals -Stage 2

Four Sri Lanka records were shattered during the Sri Lanka Athletics National Championship stage two held at Sugathadasa stadium over the weekend.

On Saturday hurdler Roshan Dammika Ranathunga stunned the arena when he clocked 13.97 seconds in the 110m hurdle to erase the 24-year-old record of 14.0 set by Mahesh Perera in 1997. Then in the afternoon, he renewed the record once again clocking 13.89 seconds.

Ranathunga who was a high jumper during his school days, won the Commonwealth Youth Games silver medal in 2017, but later changed to hurdles where he has met with great success. He underwent treatment for injuries which hampered his progress during last year, but the COVID-19 break seems to have helped him to focus more on training, especially since he did not have to attend university lectures in person in Sabaragamuwa where he studies.

Meanwhile, veteran middle-distance runner Gayanthika Abeyrathne smashed the 1500m record set by Nimali Liyanarachchi in 2019. Gayanthika clocked 4 minutes 09.12 seconds to win the event which only had 3 runners. Gayanthika had to run a lone race from the beginning, but it did not stop her from going for the record.

Pole Vaulter Sachini Perera, 23, leaped 3.57m to erase her own record in the morning. The former gymnast has been making waves with her performances in the pole vault, where she earlier set the record clearing 3.56m in 2020 December.

The other record was set by long jumper Sarangi Silva who shattered her own record clearing 6.48m jumping against a -0.9 m/s headwind. The South Asian Games gold medalist trained in Doha early this year and had a previous best of 6.44m.

Samith Fernando set a new meet record in the Shot Put, with an impressive performance of 17.36m.

In other events, Aruna Darshana and Amasha de Silva won the 200m. Darshana clocked a personal best 20.91 seconds as he beat defending champion Kalinga Kumarage and in-form Mohamad Safan for the title.

Amasha de Silva, the 100m champion, also sealed the 200m National title clocking a personal best of 24.08 seconds, while Medhani Jayamanne and Nadeesha Ramanayaka finished second and third.

Former A. Rathnayaka CC Walala athlete Harsha Karunarathne made a return clocking 1 minute 50.42 seconds to win the 800m finals.

Lakshika Sugandhi returned to seal her heptathlon tile with 4645 points, while D.S. Perera of Air Force won the decathlon title with 6645 points.