SL juniors find it tough at world finals
SL junior Men’s 4x400m relay team finished eighth in the finals of the IAAF World Junior Championship clocking 3 minutes 09.38 seconds at Tempere , Finland on Sunday (15th).
The race was won by France with time of 03:04.5 seconds beating USA as USA drop the baton during first change over.
This was the first time any of the SL relay team came to a world level final while was the only Asian team in the finals.
SL team had potential to run below 3 minutes 07 seconds given their individual time but slow baton changes and lack of pace in their relay running didn’t see them archiving that target in any of the occasion they ran together.
Specially , fastest runner , Aruna Darshana failed to match his individual brilliance during any of his relay laps while Pabasara Niku who ran 47.17 seconds in April seems slower than that there onward. Nevertheless during the finals there were many obstacles for SL as they were blocked in several occasions, specially during baton changes.
Also SL athlete did not had great preparation going in to the world juniors as they arrived in Finland just a day early and did not had any time to prepare for the condition . The team practices also was hampered by religious activities at Sugathadasa stadium where athletes did not train together during final days . Also after winning Asian Junior Gold medal , they were promised sun and moon while also was congratulated by the President Maithreepala Sirisena but they wasn’t given anything by the authorities which also might have demotivate these young athletes.
The team which comprise the 400m sensation Aruna Darshana , Pasindu Kodikara , Ravishka Indrajith and Pabasara Niku earlier clocked 03 minutes 08.88 seconds and finished third in the third heat as they advanced to the finals . Their best timing came in Sri Lanka when they won the South Asian Junior Gold medal which was 03 minutes 08.21 seconds .
Personal best of each athlete as follows
Aruna Darshana – 45.79 seconds
Pasindu Kodikara – 46.70 seconds
Pabasara Niku 47.17 seconds
Ravishka Indrajith -47.64 seconds
