Sri Lanka secures two Bronze medals

By: Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka’s Kalinga Kumarage secured the bronze medal in the Men’s 400 metre event on the second day of the 26th Asian Senior Athletic Championships, which continued in Gumi, South Korea.

The veteran middle distance runner clocked an impressive season-best 45.55s to finish third in a highly competitive race. Qatar’s Ismail Ibrahim claimed the gold medal with a time of 45.33s while Japan’s Kentaro Sato took the silver medal finishing in 45.50s.

This podium finish marks a significant achievement for Sri Lanka in the continental athletics stage.

This is the first time a Sri Lankan won a medal in the Men’s 400m event in the Asian Athletic Championships since Prasanna Amarasekara’s gold medal in 2007.

Sri Lanka also won the bronze medal in the Mixed Relay event with a time of 3 minutes 21.95 seconds. The Sri Lanka relay team consisting of Sadew Rajakaruna, Sayuri Mendis, Kalinga Kumarage and Nishendra Fernando were initially disqualified from the event. But after the Sri Lankan authorities intervened with the issue the organisers of the meet cleared them of the controversy and retained the bronze medal.

India won the gold medal with a time of 3:18.12 while China took the silver medal with a time of 3:20.52.

Meanwhile, Nadeesha Ramanayake had to settle with eighth place in the Women’s 400m after she clocked a disappointing 54.70s in the final. In addition, Chamod Yodasinghe was eliminated from the Men’s 100m semifinals after he finished 10th overall with a time of 10.46s.

Sri Lanka’s Rasara Wijesuriya also bowed out from the Women’s 10,000m final following a disappointing performance.

Tomorrow, Sri Lanka will compete in the Women’s 4X400m relay final and Lesandu Arthavidu will compete in the Men’s high jump final.