Gold and glory for Sri Lankan athletes on Day One

Sri Lankan athletes managed to claim all the glory on the first day of the fourth South Asian (Under-20) Junior Athletics Championships, which commenced yesterday in Chennai, India. Competing against athletes from six countries, Sri Lanka stormed to the top of the medal standings on the first day, winning nine medals.

This included three gold medals, three silver medals, and three bronze medals.

In the men’s 100 metres event, Merone Wijesinghe sprinted to gold medal with a new national junior record. Meron finished the race in 10.41 seconds, surpassing Shehan Abeypitiya’s 10.43-second mark. The time also stood as a meet record and personal best. Dineth Induwara Weeraratna claimed silver in the same event with his personal best of 10.49 seconds.

Sri Lanka continued to dominate in the middle-distance events. Tharushi Abisheka won the gold medal in the women’s 800 metres with a time of 2:10.83 minutes, while Savindu Avishka claimed the gold medal in the men’s race clocking in at 1:49.83 minutes. The bronze medal in the women’s 800 meters event went to Sansala Himashani, who recorded a time of 2:12.13 minutes.

In the women’s high jump, Nethra Samadhi and Kashmika Timashi both cleared 1.65 metres, earning silver medals.

The men’s shot put saw Jayavi Alwis take bronze with a throw of 15.69 metres, and in the women’s 100 metres, Shanela Seneviratne earned bronze, clocking 12.04 seconds.

Sri Lanka’s team includes 29 men and 25 women athletes, looks set to build on this strong start as the competition resumes today (12) and wraps up tomorrow (13).

 Source: Daily News