Sports

Herculean task as athletes strive for Olympic qualifying standards against odds

Published

5 years ago

2021/05/21

by Reemus Fernando

With Sri Lanka Athletics advancing all Olympic targeted events by a day to conclude the first stage of the 99th National Athletics Championship before travel restrictions come to effect today we are taking a look at some of country’s top ranked athletes’ current positions in the ‘Road to Olympics Rankings’ and the monumental task they have at hand if they are to meet qualifying standards for the Tokyo event.

To earn direct qualification for the quadrennial event almost all local aspirants have to do better than the standard of the current national record of their respective disciplines at today’s meet as they are not likely to get another opportunity before the deadline closes.

To make it simple take the case of Sumeda Ranasinghe. The Rio Olympic participant is currently ranked 41st in the ‘Road to Olympics Rankings’ maintained by World Athletics. Only 32 athletes will be selected for the Tokyo event, 21 from direct qualifying standards and 11 from world ranking positions. From German champion Johannes Vetter’s massive 94.2 metres throw to Belarus thrower Aliaksei Katkavets’ 85.10 metres, 21 athletes have produced throws that earn them direct qualification, making it a battle among the rest for the remaining 11 positions according to world rankings. At the end of 2020(December) Ranasinghe was ranked 30th in the world but unfortunately his ranking dropped as he could not compete at the First Selection Trial due to an injury. He did not get any international competitions either. In the positive side he has recovered from the injury and will be eager to produce his best. To be in the safe side and earn a direct qualification Sumeda needs to better his national record by nearly two metres. Sumeda’s Sri Lanka record which he established to qualify for the Rio Olympics has remained unshaken since 2015. He has his training partner Sampath Ranasinghe and former national record holder Waruna Lakshan joining him in the fray.

Nilani Ratnayake

The Army athlete is probably the closest to an Olympic berth as she is ranked 34th in the ‘Road to Olympics Rankings’. With 45 athletes selected for women’s 3,000 metre steeplechase she is still within the required ranking position. But her rivals are likely to get more opportunities to better their rankings. To be in the safe side she has to produce a timing better than that of her Sri Lanka record. While her record is nine minutes and 46.76 seconds, the direct entry standard is nearly 17 seconds faster. Some 19 athletes have already reached qualifying standards around the world and she will be wondering as to how she could maintain the current ranking by only competing at today’s meet. A technical mistake from the part of the organizers made her clear higher barriers at the last meet held at the Sugathadasa Stadium. She could still clock 9:57.81 seconds. Don’t be surprised if she measures the height of barriers before her discipline starts today.

Awesome contest in the women’s 800 metres

Dilshi Kumarasinghe’s rise has made the women’s 800 metres one of the most look forward to events in the athletics arena. Kumarasinghe won the national title at the last National Championship before also taking under her name the national record when she clocked 2:02.52 seconds at the Selection Trial held recently. Despite making vast strides turning tables on Nimali Liyanarachchi and Gayanthika Abeyratne Kumarasinghe is still trailing behind the former champions in the world rankings due to lack of competitions. Though she has produced the second fastest time in Asia this year she is ranked fifth in the region behind Bahrain’s Nelly Jepkosgei, China’s Chunyu Wang and her two Sri Lankan counterparts. 48 athletes- 24 by entry standards and 24 according to world rankings – will be selected for the women’s 800 metres. Kumarasinghe needs to clock faster than 1:59.50 seconds if she is to obtain a direct qualification as 24 athletes have already clocked the qualifying standard.

Women’s javelin throw has a direct qualifying standard of 64 metres which is three metres further than the current Sri Lanka record held by Olympian Nadeeka Lakmali. Lakmali is currently ranked 53rd in the ‘Road to Olympics Ranks of World Athletics. It will be a herculean task for both Lakmali and Dilhani Lekamge as they compete to improve their rankings.

Long jumpers too have a huge ask. After Amila Jayasiri cleared 8.15 metres in 2016 no other has challenged the national record. The direct Olympic qualifying standard is 8.22 metres which 21 athletes around the globe have already accomplished. Jumpers have to improve these standards or their world rankings drastically at this meet if they are to realize their dream of qualifying for the Games.

High jumper Ushan Thivanka who is based in USA and 100 metres sprinter Yupun Abeykoon who is based in Italy are also striving for qualifying standards and have improved their own national records in a bid to improve their world rankings. They will be competing in meets in USA and Europe with the hope of achieving qualifying standards.

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Sports

Six races, six golds – Klaebo’s historic Olympics

Published

2 hours ago

2026/02/22

Priyan

'Amazing!' - Klaebo sets record for most golds won at a single Winter Olympics

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, Norway’s king of cross-country skiing, broke the record for the most gold medals won at a single Winter Olympics with his sixth of the Games.

Klaebo led a Norwegian sweep of the podium in the 50km mass start classic, with team-mates Martin Loewstroem Nyenget and Emil Iversen taking silver and bronze respectively.

The 29-year-old finished the brutal distance in two hours six minutes 44.8 seconds, 8.9secs ahead of Nyenget who takes his third medal of the Games.

“It’s been crazy, it’s a dream come true,” Klaebo told BBC Sport.

“I really think this Olympics has been perfect. Being able to crown the Olympics with the 50km was unbelievable.”

Klaebo breaks the previous record of five golds from a single Games, held by American speed skater Eric Heiden since the Lake Placid Olympics of 1980.

It also extends his own record for most Winter Olympic golds to 11, while he becomes the first athlete to win all six cross-country events at one Games.

Only US swimming great Michael Phelps, who won 23 gold medals, has more Olympic titles to his name.

Born in Oslo, Klaebo moved to Trondheim – a haven of cross-country skiing trails – as a young child, a move that has seen him become the greatest to ever do the sport.

No other man, active or retired, comes close to his record of 116 World Cup wins, while he is also a 15-time world champion, winning all six titles at last year’s edition on home snow in Trondheim.

“After the world championships last year, we knew that it was possible, but to be able to do it, it’s hard to find the right words,” he told reporters.

“[There were] so many emotions when I’m crossing the finish line.”

His sixth Olympic gold at Milan-Cortina adds to the titles he had won earlier in the Games in the skiathlon, sprint classic, 10km interval start free, 4×7.5km relay and the team sprint.

[BBC]

Latest News

India, South Africa meet in the final before the final

Published

4 hours ago

2026/02/22

Priyan

The Indian team and support staff go for a run during a training session [Cricinfo]

Some are calling this the final before the final. India were the clear favourites anyway, and South Africa have emerged unbeaten from the toughest group of the draw. Their easy win against New Zealand has sent warning signs.

A budding rivalry that began with the last T20 World Cup final, which South Africa lost despite bossing it for 35 overs, continued as they had their own back with a Test whitewash of India in India.

Throw in high stakes. This is no longer a match in which only India stand to lose something although they will not want to be the XI that breaks India’s winning streak of 12 at T20 World Cups. South Africa stand to lose a lot as well.

You lose this match, and the remaining two become must-wins but not a guarantee to make the semi-finals. It is a blockbuster start to the Group 1 Super Eight round. South Africa have been used to the Ahmedabad conditions having played three of their four matches there. India don’t need any more familiarity with Ahmedabad as every important match of any series or tournament invariably ends up there.

The last such game was the last T20I in the series against South Africa where India overcame the toss and buried South Africa by piling 231 runs. At that time, South Africa didn’t have any idea what their best XI looked like. Now they will hope to put up a much better fight against the all-conquering Indian side.

The two openers have been setting the tournament alight. Not long ago neither of them was opening. Ishan Kishan is a bolter thanks to his performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. In December when South Africa last played India in Ahmedabad, Aiden Markram was batting at No. 5. Now they are the leading openers of the tournament having aggregated in 170s at nearly two a ball. A lot of time will be spent on them in the respective strategy meetings.

Arshdeep Singh expectedly returned for the last match, but India rested Axar Patel to give Washington Sundar a game. Axar should come back into the XI.

India (probable): Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt.), Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.

South Africa rested Lungi Ngidi in their last game, giving Kagiso Rabada time to attain full rhythm while also testing out Anrich Nortje. Ngidi, still their leading wicket-taker, should come back at the expense of one of the big quicks. This being a night game, Corbin Bosch is likelier to get the nod ahead of George Linde.

South Africa (probable): Aiden Markram (capt.), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ryan Rickelton, Dewald Brevis, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada/Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

A campaign that’s brought the fans back

Published

9 hours ago

2026/02/22

Thilina Walpola

Sri Lanka’s final group game of the T20 World Cup was, on paper, a dead rubber. Zimbabwe had already punched their Super Eight ticket and so had the co-hosts. Yet, 24 hours before the toss, tickets were sold out. By the time the coin went up at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium, the access roads were chock-a-block, horns blaring, vendors shouting, fans draped in blue streaming in like it was a final.

For a so-called inconsequential game, it felt anything but.

When supporters turn up in numbers for a fixture with nothing riding on it, that’s not blind loyalty, that’s belief. Sri Lanka, after years in the wilderness, have given their faithful something to cheer about. They are no longer making up the numbers. They are back in the contest.

The moment that injected oxygen into this campaign was the night they showed Australia the exit door. For Sri Lankan fans, there is no sweeter soundtrack than the silence of an Aussie dressing room packing up early. The younger fan brigade may relish having a go at India, but knocking out Australia still carries its own flavour.

Now the focus shifts to the Super Eight. Three games. Win two and Sri Lanka could be boarding flights to Calcutta or Bombay for a semi-final berth. That would be a seismic moment. The national side has not reached the last four of a global event for 12 long years. In cricketing terms, that’s an eternity.

Sport, like life, moves in cycles. Between 2007 and 2015, Sri Lanka were serial semi-finalists and finalists, a golden era when reaching the knockouts of ICC events was routine business. England, in contrast, were perennial underachievers in white-ball cricket, often bundled out early and licking their wounds. But they went back to the drawing board, addressed their white-ball philosophy, and emerged as a different beast, fearless, methodical and consistent on the global stage.

Sri Lanka appear to be following a similar blueprint.

One of the burning issues identified was strike rate. Last year, Chairman of Selectors Upul Tharanga publicly called for urgency with the bat. Too many Sri Lankan batters were stuck in second gear, striking at 120 or 130, respectable in another era, but pedestrian in modern T20 cricket.

This tournament has told a different story.

Kamindu Mendis has been batting as if the fielders are mere ornaments, striking at a jaw-dropping 225. Dasun Shanaka has rediscovered his finishing boots, going at 200. Pavan Rathnayake has muscled his way to 177, while Pathum Nissanka, long seen as more accumulator than aggressor, has operated at a healthy 155.

Those are not cosmetic improvements. Those are match-defining numbers.

Sri Lanka’s bowling cupboard has rarely been bare. Spin has been their calling card, seamers their workhorses. But too often in recent years, the batting has misfired, leaving bowlers with too little to defend. Now, with Pathum anchoring, Pavan counter-punching and Kamindu playing the role of accelerator, the top order is beginning to hum. Charith Asalanka, meanwhile, is far too gifted to be warming the bench for long.

The Super Eight will provide sterner examinations. England have had the wood over Sri Lanka in recent meetings. Pakistan and New Zealand, however, are sides we have found ways to outfox. More importantly, the middle order, once the soft underbelly, is showing signs of steel.

There are, of course, absentees that could haunt them in the business end. Wanindu Hasaranga, Matheesha Pathirana and Eshan Malinga would have been invaluable when the heat rises. Experience in global tournaments and franchise leagues like the IPL is currency you cannot easily replace. Hasaranga’s recurring hamstring troubles remain a concern and managing his fitness, including conditioning, must be a priority if he is to prolong his career.

Credit, too, must go upstairs. Sri Lanka Cricket have left no stone unturned. The appointment of Vikram Rathour and R. Sridhar, key lieutenants under Ravi Shastri during India’s successful run, has added tactical clarity. The involvement of South Africa’s Paddy Upton, a guru of the mental side of the game, has strengthened the team’s headspace.

The dividends are visible.

For now, the biggest victory may not be on the points table but in the stands. The blue flags are back. The roads are jammed again. The buzz has returned.

In Sri Lanka, that is often the first sign that a team has truly turned the corner.

by Rex Clementine