Three athletes from Sri Lanka who are among the top in Asia in the 800m women’s event

Sri Lanka has traditionally produced great women sprinters such as Damayanthi Darsha, Susanthika Jayasinghe, Sriyani Kulawansa, Jayamini Illeperuma and Tilaka Jinadasa, who ruled the roost during the golden era of athletics in the 90s. Sriyani Dhammika Menike was the lone middle-distance runner who represented Sri Lanka in the 800 and 1,500 metre events at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Now the focus seems to have shifted back to the 800m after the emergence of a trio who are on the brink of qualifying for the Tokyo Games.

Dilshi Kumarasinghe, Nimali Liyanarachchi and Gayanthika Abeyratne have become household names after recording Asia’s seasonal best times in the 800m final at the 98th National Athletic Championship held in December. Kumarasinghe, Sri Lanka’s star at the 2019 South Asian Games, ran the best 800m of her life beating Sri Lanka record holder Abeyrathne and 2019 national champion Liyanarachchi while clocking a personal best of 2 minutes 2.80 seconds. Nimali clocked 2:03.80 and Gayanthika 2:03.20. Bahrain’s Nelly Jepkosgei of Sudanese origin clocked the season’s fastest of 2:02.07 in October while the Olympic qualifying standard is 1:59.50.

“This is the first time there are three athletes from Sri Lanka who are among the top in Asia in the 800m women’s event. They have a good chance of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics either by timing or points system if they compete in more competitions,” said Saman Kumara Gunawardena, a senior official of Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA).

The lack of competition seems to be the only stumbling block for this talented trio who are on the cusp of qualifying for the Olympics after clocking phenomenal timings despite the COVID-19 enforced break last year.