Yupun climbs up in World rankings
A number of outstanding performances, the latest of which was termed by him as his best, have helped sprinter Yupun Abeykoon climb up in the men’s 100 metres world rankings as the World Athletics rankings updated this week placed him above Japan’s Olympic medallist Yoshihide Kiryu.
The Italy based sprinter, who improved the National and South Asian region 100 metres record to 10.06 seconds last month, clocked 10.08 to a headwind of -1.2, at an International ‘A’ Grade championship in Ostrava on May 31. Soon after the race the sprinter took to social media to claim that it was his best effort. A feat of 10.08 seconds against wind indicates that he has almost reserved right to become the first South Asian to break the ten seconds barrier.
He ran alongside some of the world’s best sprinters in Ostrava. Former World Champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica, World and Olympic 100 metres finalist Akani Simbine, who is also the reigning Commonwealth Games champion, Great Britain’s Reece Prescod, a European Championship silver medallist and Zharnel Hughes, a World Championship silver medallist finished before him. US sprinter Elijah Hall who is currently ranked 25th in the world was placed sixth after photo finish separated him from Yupun who finished fifth.
According to the World Rankings updated this week Yupun Abeykoon is ranked 36th and he has improved to the 35th position in the ‘Road to Oregon 2022’ list, the ranking which determines the participants for the upcoming World Championships.
During the last two decades such outstanding performances were thought beyond the reach of Sri Lankans in the 100 metres. Yupun and his coaching team have proven that wrong. No Sri Lankan male athlete had won a medal in the 100 metres at the Asian Games after Sriyantha Dissanayake climbed the podium in 1990. Not even when the medal-winning performances were below the current national record mark. The postponement of this year’s Asian Games will deny Abeykoon a historic moment at a time when he is among the best in Asia.
According to this week’s world rankings, Asian record holder Bingtian Su of China is the only athlete ranked above Abeykoon in the 100 metres in Asia.
While Yupun is the second ranked Asian in his pet event, former Asian record holder Femi Ogunode of Qatar is in the sixth position in Asia.
Sadly with cricket taking media spotlight more often than not, Abeykoon’s magnificent achievements have not received the place it truly deserves in the mainstream media. It is doubtful whether the country’s sports hierarchy too is aware of the vast strides that Abeykoon has made in the world’s most competitive track discipline.
With the Asian Games postponed, next month’s World Championships and the Commonwealth Games will offer him the best opportunity to hog the limelight.
