Sachini shatters SL record once again
Vaulting queen Sachini Perera once again renewed her own Sri Lanka record, this time with a leap of 3.60m at the Army Athletics Championship continued at Sugathadasa Stadium before the heavens opened up.
Sachini, who leaped 3.57m last year renewing her own record during the National Athletics Championship in late October, was back in action yesterday where she cleared 3.60m with ease. She then attempted one chance at 3.70m without success, after which the rain increased and she had to call it a day, which also brought to a halt the rest of the day’s events.
“It was hard to grip the pole after the heavy rain and wet conditions, hence, had to give up after the first attempt,” said Sachini following the event. Former gymnast turned pole vaulter, Sachini, 23, trains under Sanath Gunarathne. She has been creating waves in the pole vault event, breaking record after record during the past two years, despite the pandemic limiting her training to the coach’s home backyard.
With limited resources and expertise on the field, Coach Sanath has been pleading with authorities for overseas training or foreign expertise for pole vault events for years, which so far have fallen on deaf ears. Meanwhile, an exciting men’s Javelin throw event saw 22-year-old former Benedictine Pragathi Ranawaka of Light Infantry Regiment almost creating an upset over the two senior pros, but Olympian Sumedha came up with a 75.91m throw in his last attempt to secure the Gold medal.
Ranawaka finished second with a throw of 75.24m, while Waruna Lakshan was pushed back to third place with a throw of 73.51m. Hammer Thrower Manoji Amarasinghe created a new meet record with a throw of 44.97m to win the event, while the men’s pole vault was won by the National Champion from Jaffna K. Puvitharan with a 5.00m leap. Puvitharan and S.E. Janith both cleared 5.00m, but Puvitharan was adjudged the winner based on number of attempts.
In the women’s triple jump, Rashmi Daluwakgoda, who was bridesmaid to many winners over the recent years, was finally rewarded when she won the Gold medal with a leap of 12.64m beating National Champion Randi Cooray who finished second. Cooray went on to win the high jump event thereafter with a leap of 1.65m. Due to heavy rain, the Men’s high jump final was postponed for today.
