School athlete Tharushi breaks record, wins senior national title

Ratnayake Central Walala runner Thrushi Karunaratne smashed the national junior record on her way to winning the title of the women’s 400 metres at the Centenary National Athletics Championship concluded at  Diyagama on Saturday.

The athlete trained by Susantha Fernando compensated for the absence of injured Dilshi Kumarsinghe, her senior training partner as she lowered the latter’s National Junior record with a remarkable 53.85 seconds in the 400 metres final.

She became the first junior athlete in history to run the distance under 54 seconds. Earlier in this meet, Karunaratne also broke the National Junior record of Dilshi Kumarasinghe in the 800 metres.

In the 400 metres final featuring as many as three school girls, the defending champion, Nadeesha Ramanayake had the to settle for the third position behind two of them.

Jayeshi Uththara, who finished second clocked 54.14 seconds. Both Karunaratne and Jayeshi have reached qualifying standards for the World Junior Athletics Championships.

(By Reemus Fernando /The Island)