The 9-man Sri Lanka contingent for the 2016 Paralympic Games will take wing to Rio, Brazil today. The team will be led by Anil Prasanna Jayalath who will compete in the T42 100 and 200 metres and the Long Jump. He is the holder of the Asia Oceanic and Asian records in these events. Gamini Ekanayake and Dinesh Priyantha Herath will take part in the F44 Javelin and Sampath Hettiarcahchi will take part in the F46 Javelin Throw. Ajith Hettiarachchi will line up alongside the captain for the T 44 100 and 200 metres and the 400 metres. Amara Indumathi will compete in the women’s T47, 200 and 400 metres, and the Long Jump, together with Indika Chuladasa in the T42 100 and 200 meters. Upali Rajakaruna will represent the country in wheelchair tennis, whilst Sampath Bandara is in for Archery.
Anil Prasanna Jayalath, skipper of the Sri Lanka (SL) team to the Rio Paralympic Games, says that Sri Lanka won a Bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. “Our aim is to keep the SL flag flying at Rio too,” said Anil to the Sunday Times. Skipper Anil hails from Varanketagoda MV, Ampara. In 2009, he lost his leg to a gunshot during the ethnic strife. He is 4th in the Paralympic World rankings. “I have trained very hard and I am mentally fit. We have an experienced woman athlete in Amara Indumathie. Coaches of the Sri Lanka team are Rohitha Fernando, Ranjith Hewanama, Vimukthi De Soysa and Anula de Costa. Chef De Mission is Brig. R. Wickremasinghe.
The Paralympic Games will be held from September 7 to 18 with 4,500 para athletes from 176 nations taking part in 528 events from 23 sports. The largest number of athletes are from current champions China with 308. They won 95 Gold, 71 Silver and 65 Bronze at the 2012 London Olympics. The USA is 2nd with 276 athletes, while England has 256 participants. There are 279 Cross-country runners. South Asian countries are represented by Sri Lanka and India. There are 7 from India. There are more participants at the Rio Olympics than there were at the London Olympics with more countries. The last Olympics had 164 countries with 322 participants.
The Sri Lankan Paralympic Contingent to Rio is powered by Dialog Axiata, Sri Lanka’s premier telecommunications service provider and a longstanding partner of disabled sports in Sri Lanka. Dialog is the proud sponsor of the National Paralympics Committee and the Sri Lanka Army Para Games Committee from 2015 to 2017. They first sponsored the Sri Lanka Paralympic contingent in 2000, followed by 2004, 2008 and 2012, including sponsorship of the National Sports Festival for the Disabled. The Sri Lanka contingent is vying for another Medal at the Rio Games after the heroics of Paralympian,
Pradeep Sanajaya who won the nation’s first medal at the 2012 London Paralympic Games with a Bronze in the 400 metre T46 category, in a time of 49.28 seconds. However, Pradeep Sanjaya failed to qualify this time and will not be taking part at the Rio Olympics. There was disagreement regarding Pradeep Sanjaya not being selected, but the Sports Minister said the consequent inquiry had upheld the decision. At the IPC Asia-Oceania Championships this year, Sri Lankas paralympians won 6 Gold, 4 Silver and 5 Bronze, and are expected to excel in Rio.
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