Army’s Ramanayake wins gold after 23 years in 400m at the Asian Athletic Championship

by Susil Premalal  
Sri Lanka’s elite athlete Nadeesha Ramanayake of Army won the 400m women’s gold medal at the 25th Asian Athletic Championship 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.
Ramanayake finished the 400m semifinals in 53.06 seconds to qualify for the finals where she clocked a winning time of 52.61.
This is the first time Sri Lanka won a gold medal in the 400m women’s event after 23 years in the history of the Asian Athletic Senior Championship.
Uzbekistan’s  Solieva Farida (52.95) clinched second place and India’s Mishra Aishwarya (53.07) finished third.

Aruna Dharshana and Rajitha Rajakaruna participated in the 400m men’s final but they could not win any medals.
At the end of the second day of the tournament, Sri Lanka had won one gold and two bronze medals.
Nadeesha Ramanayaka, 28, becomes the eighth Sri Lankan to win an individual gold medal at the Asian Championships.
The last time Sri Lanka won a gold medal in the 400m event was in the 2000 Asian Championships when Damayanthi Darsha set a championship record.
Nadeesha’s time of 52.61 is her new personal best and is the all time third best performance by a Sri Lankan woman in the 400m.