Lekamge, Tharushi make further improvements in ‘Road to Paris 24’ rankings

by Reemus Fernando

Asian Games medallist Tharushi Karunaratne and thrower Dilhani Lekamge improved their ‘Road to Paris 24’ Olympic ranking scores at the National Stage II competition at Diyagama on Sunday.Karunaratne improved her ranking score to nearly 1222 points with a 1:26.99 seconds finish in the 600 metres.

With that she is set to overtake Lorena Martin who is currently ranked 42 in the women’s 800 metres. The former Ratnayake Central athlete needs to be among the top 45 athletes when the final rankings are updated if she is to book a berth in the Paris Olympics which will commence on July 26.

Lekamge threw the javelin to a distance of 55.88 metres yesterday. That will help her increase her score to 1157 points making her on par with China’s Huihui Lyu who is currently ranked 25th. She has to be within the top 32 athletes if she is to qualify.

In the men’s category Aruna Dharshana is set to improve his score to 1220 with his 45.49 seconds feat in the 400 metres yesterday.

With the National Championships of various countries around the world taking place around the world it was difficult to make clear predictions about the standings of players. World Athletics will publish the final standings on Wednesday. Dharshana needs to be within the top 48 if he is to qualify.