With 2 Championship records, 2 new national records, an all time best placing of 4th in the medals table with a record 8 medals, Sri Lanka as a team have collectively broken records at the Asian Athletics Championship.
The Women’s 800m Final featured Tharushi Karunarathna and Gayanthika Abeyrathne. Tharushi not only won the Gold medal but also broke the Championship record of 2 minutes 0.66 seconds, the fastest timing in the Asian region and succeeded Gayanthika as the new national record holder. Gayanthika won the Bronze.
A few hours later, the Sri Lanka Women’s 4x400m relay, only second to India, were able to break the national record of 3 minutes 3.25 seconds. The team comprised of Nadeesha Ramanayake, Sayuri Mendis, Nishendra Fernando and Tharushi Karunaratne who was the last runner to win the Silver after the team was in 4th place at her exchange, bracing the final lap for the 2nd place.
One important fact to note is that Tharushi is the only schoolgirl in the 13 member contingent and her achievements speak volume. She has a total of 3 medals to her name and the last time a schoolgirl won medals at the Asian Athletics Championship was Damayanthi Darsha in 1993, winning a Silver in the 200m.
The final Gold medal was won by the Men’s 4x400m team, breaking a 23 year old national record to establish a new Championship record of 3 minutes 1.56 seconds. This timing is also ranked 12th in the World Athletics Championship Qualifier list. The winning combination was Aruna Darshana, Rajitha Rajakaruna, Pabasara Niku and Kalinga Kumarage.
With 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze medals to make 8 and an overall placing of 4th in the medals table, this is the best ever performance for Sri Lanka in the Games history. The other medal winners were Gayanthika Abeyrathne (800m Bronze), Dilhani Lekamge (Javelin Bronze and national record), Nadeesh Ramanayake (400m Gold) and the Mixed Relay team Silver won by Aruna, Tharushi, Nadeesha and Kalinga.
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