Sri Lanka goes from gold to bronze at Asian relay

 Sri Lanka bronze medal winners Omel Shashintha, Kalhara Silva, Sadev Rajakaruna, and Kalinga Kumarage

By Susil Premalal

During this year’s Asian Relay Championship, which was held for the second time in China under the Asian Athletics (AA) banner, the Sri Lankan team was only able to secure a single medal.

With this year’s competition reduced to just six relay events, Sri Lanka’s sole podium finish came in the men’s 4×400m relay where the team produced a strong performance but fell just short of the top two positions. The Sri Lankan quartet of Omel Shashintha, Kalhara Silva, Sadev Rajakaruna and Kalinga Kumarage clocked 3:03.33 to secure the bronze medal. Vietnam won gold in 3:02.60, while China took silver in 3:03.23. The Sri Lankan men’s team secured the gold medal in the same event at the previous edition of the championship. Apart from the bronze medal performance, Sri Lanka finished fourth in both the men’s 4×100m relay and the mixed 4×400m relay. 

In the men’s 4×100m event, despite failing to reach the podium, the team was able to break the national record, improving on the previous mark of 39.08 seconds.

Sri Lanka did not participate in the women’s 4×100m relay, further limiting their medal prospects at the tournament. Overall, the championship highlighted missed opportunities for Sri Lanka, as several expected medal events did not yield podium finishes.