SLA to send 10-15 elite athletes for 24th Senior Asian Meet

By Susil Premalal  

Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) is planning to send about 10 to 15 athletes for the 24th Senior Asian Athletic Championship. The Asian Athletics Association is hoping to stage this championship from May 20 to 23 in Hongzhou, China.  

This competition was earlier scheduled to be held in March but postponed to 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.  

Since qualification for the Tokyo Olympics has been extended till 29 June 2021, this tournament is a much looked forward to event for Sri Lanka and other Asian countries.  

In preparation for this championship and other international competitions, SLA has formed an elite national pool of 26 athletes. 

The national pool is undergoing training mainly in Colombo and other venues around the island.  

The majority of the national pool comprises athletes who won gold medals at the 13th South Asian Games.  SLA hopes to select outstanding athletes in the following events to participate in the Asian Championship: 400 metres (men and women), javelin (women), 4x400m relay (men), triple jump (men and women), long jump (men and women) and 100m (men and women).