Chamod and Amasha fastest at 103rd Athletic Nationals
Chamod Yodhasinghe and Amasha de Silva of Sri Lanka Army sprinted their way into the spotlight as the fastest male and female athletes at the 103rd National Athletics Championship, which kicked off yesterday at Diyagama, Homagama.
Yodhasinghe blazed through the Men’s 100m final with a stunning time of 10.4 seconds, leaving his Army teammate D.S. Diyalawatta settle for silver with 10.59 seconds. P.P. Silva, also from the Army, clocked 10.6 seconds to claim the bronze, sealing a clean sweep for the soldiers.
In the Women’s 100m final, Amasha de Silva of the Army sprinted to gold with a timing of 11.79 seconds. Y.F. Shafiya secured the silver in 11.84 seconds, while Rumeshika Ratnayake of the Sri Lak Athletic Club narrowly took the bronze at 11.85.
The Women’s 400m final saw another Army victory as Nadeesha Ramanayake stormed to claim the gold in 52.86 seconds. Sri Lanka Navy’s Sayuri Mendis followed closely with 52.97 seconds to earn silver, and N.H. Fernando of Air Force clinched the bronze with 53.31 seconds.
In the Men’s 110m Hurdles, Army athletes excelled once again. R.D. Ranatunga won the gold with 14.03 seconds, followed by P.S. Kosala (14.27s) and D.D. Ariyaratne (14.50s) for silver and bronze respectively.
The Women’s 100m Hurdles saw Lakshika Sugandi of the Army taking the gold in 13.68 seconds. Her teammate W.K. Hapuarachchi claimed the silver with 14.09s, while S.L. Dissanayake of Air Force earned the bronze in 14.11s.
In the field events, Y.W. Kumara of Air Force soared to 7.76m in the Men’s Long Jump for the gold. J.S. Mirenda and I.K. Piyasiri, both from the Army, won the silver (7.66m) and bronze (7.52m) respectively.
The Women’s Pole Vault final was won by Nesarasa Dakshitha of the Jaffna District Athletic Association with a jump of 3.40m. C.K. Kodithuwakku and Achini Perera of the Army shared the same height of 3.30m, but Kodithuwakku earned silver on countback, and Perera settled for bronze.
In the Women’s 1500m final, seasoned runner Nimali Liyanarachchi of Hambantota District Athletic Association struck gold in 4:31.07. M.A. Kumari of Air Force took the silver in 4:32.02, while promising school athlete Tharushi Abhisheka of the Sri Lanka Schools team, secured the bronze in 4:32.71.
Fresh from her national record at the World University Games in Berlin, Army’s Rasara Wijesuriya excelled in the Women’s 10,000m final with a timing of 36:26.48. Teammate W.M. Herath claimed the silver in 37:17.67, while O.N. Fonseka of the Air Force clocked 38:04.81 for bronze.
The Men’s 5000m final was clinched by Sri Lanka Army’s V. Vakshan with a timing of 14:40.51. Saman Kumara, also of the Army, earned the silver in 14:42.67, while Ilango Vikirthan of Vavuniya District Athletic Association clocked 14:52.63 to take the bronze.
In the Men’s Javelin Throw, P.R. Tharanga of Air Force stunned the field with a mighty 82.36m throw for the gold—well ahead of Army’s R. Rathushan, who managed 72.21m for the silver. T.N. Dhananjaya of Air Force claimed the bronze with 71.10m. Navy’s Ovini Chandrasekara threw 12.57m to win the Women’s Shot Put final. A.P. Kumari of Government Services followed with 11.67m, while Kavy Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka Universities secured the bronze with 11.54m.
Army’s D.M. Dharmasena won the Men’s Hammer Throw with 48.29m, narrowly edging teammate A.S. Bandara (48.24m). Sisira Kumara, also from the Army, took the bronze with a 47.47m effort. Madushani Herath of Sri Lak Athletic Club leapt 6.14m to take the gold in the Women’s Long Jump. S.W. Arachchi (6.07m) and D.S. Ranasinghe (6.03m), both from the Army, completed the podium. A total of 15 finals were completed on the opening day of this two-day national meet, with more events scheduled to take place from 6:30am today at Diyagama.