Sri Lanka bag five medals at Asian Junior (U20) Athletics Championships
Madushani Herath won the triple jump silver.
Dharsha’s long-standing Asian Junior record crumbles
All four relay teams fielded by Sri Lanka secured podium positions and in a notable achievement all participants finished among the top eight as Sri Lanka concluded the Asian Junior Athletics Championship with two silver medals and three bronzes in Dubai.
In a remarkable sprint performance, Ananda College Colombo sprinter Merone Wijesinghe anchored the men’s 4x100metres relay team to win silver as the team shattered the National Junior Record twice during the competition.
Men’s 4×100 metres relay team.
The team inclusive of fellow Ananda sprinter Indusara Vidushan, St. Sebastian’s College, Kandana athlete Kaushal Thamel and Leeds International, Matara sprinter Induwara Weeraratne became the first Sri Lankan Junior quartet to have clocked sub 40 seconds in the 4×100 metres relay. They clocked 39.81 seconds to finish second on Saturday. It was the second time they improved the national junior record during the meet. They clocked 40.32 seconds during the heats on Friday to take under their belt the record held by Arosha Kariyawasam, Suranjaya de Silva, D.K.M.N. Sachinthana and Himasha Eshan who clocked 40.37 second at the Asian Junior Championships in Taipei in 2014.
Sri Lanka Athletics fielded a 17 member team inclusive of four relay teams for the regional event.
Men’s 4×400 metres relay team.
The men’s 4×400 metres, women’s 4×400 metres and 4x400metres mixed relay teams clinched bronze medals.
Women’s 4×400 metres relay team.
The women’s 4×400 metres team of Charuni Pramudika (Holy Cross, Gampaha), Maheema Pavindi (Maliyadeva Girls School, Kurunegala), Jithma Wijethunga (Lyceum International, Wattala) and Nuhansa Kodituwakku (Matara Central) clocked 3:46.20 seconds to secure the bronze.
In the men’s 4×400 metres Avishka Rajapaksha (Maliyadewa College, Kurunegala), Shashintha Silva (St. Sebastian’s College, Kandana), Hasindu Nethsara (Lumbini College) and Jathya Kirulu (Mahinda College, Galle) clocked 3:09.48 seconds to win bronze.
Mixed relay team.
Earlier in the meet the 4×400 metres mixed relay team won the bronze.
The only individual medal for Sri Lanka was won by Nannapurawa MV Bibila athlete Madushani Herath who cleared 13.01 metres to secure the triple jump silver.
Meanwhile, Damayanthi Dharsha’s 100 metres Asian Junior Championship record that had stood unshaken for three decades finally crumbled as 15-year-old Chen Yujie of China struck gold in 11.32, taking 0.10 off the championship record set by Dharsha.
by Reemus Fernando – Island.lk
