Nadeesha, Kalinga return with a bang, Sarangi breaks 21 year old record

98th National Athletics Championship- Day 1

by Reemus Fernando

Sprinters Nadeesha Ramanayake and Kalinga Kumarage and long jumper Sarangi Silva commenced from where they left exactly a year ago as they produced outstanding feats on day one of the 98th National Athletics Championship at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Saturday.

Ramanayake, who missed the South Asian Games in Nepal after being diagnose with dengue fever on her arrival there, recorded her personal best in winning the women’s 200 metres. Aided by a 1.8 tail wind, Ramanayake clocked 24.15 seconds to better her previous personal best recorded in August last year. The 26 year old sprinter from Southern Province was part of the Asian Championship 4×400 metres relay team which established a new national record in Doha in early 2019 and was expected to win medals in Nepal last December before dengue derailed her plans. She is expected to come all guns blazing when her pet event, the 400 metres, is held on the final day.

Kalinga rises, Vinoj crashes

Equally impressive was Kalinga Kumarage’s dash to win the men’s 200 metres title as the defending champion and National record holder Suranjaya de Silva crashed to a disappointing sixth place finish. Kalinga who was cleared of doping charges by a disciplinary committee in December last year was taking part in a meet after more than two years. He was temporarily suspended by SLADA in January 2019.

From the time he set the pace in the heats, Kalinga (21.08 secs) looked the athlete in form and returned an impressive 20.79 seconds to claim the 200 metres title. For a while it looked as if he had shattered Prasanna Amarasekara’s long standing meet record (2004- 20.80 secs). The wind gauge showed that his impressive effort had been supported by a tail wind of +2.4 which prevented it from being called a record.

Sarangi shines

The women’s long jump gold and silver were shared by South Asian Games medallists Sarangi Silva and Anjani Pulwansa respectively. SA Games gold medallist Sarangi cleared 6.33 metres to break Indian Anju B Marcos’s record created at the 1999 Nationals. Pulwansa, who cleared 6.06 metres was the only other athlete to go beyond the six metres mark.

Olympian Sumeda Ranasinghe registered a 76.10 metres throw to win the javelin title while former national record holder Waruna Lakshan settled for silver with a throw of 71.86 metres. Others failed to clear the 70 metres.

Olympic hopeful Nilani Ratnayake was easily the best in the women’s 3000 metres steeplechase but gusty winds prevented her from reaching her best as she returned a time of 10:15.86 seconds to retain her title.

In the men’s 5000 metres R.M.S. Pushpakumara was the winner as he clocked an impressive 14:29.45 seconds. He was eight seconds behind the 25 year old meet record held by Saman Weerawardana.

Sri Lanka Athletics is conducting the 98th National Athletics Championships under trying conditions due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Absence of competitions due to the pandemic has prevented top athletes from improving their world rankings which is a must to realize their Olympic aspirations.

Day 1 Results

Women’s 200m: 1. Nadeesha Ramanayake (SL Army) 24.15 secs, 2. Fathima Shafiya Yamick (SL Army) 24.30 secs, 3. W.S.H. Fernando (SL Navy) 24.83 secs.

Women’s Long Jump:

1. S.L. Sarangi Silva (SL Army) 6.33m (NMR), 2. Anjani Pulwansa (Unattached) 6.06m, 3. E.M.S. Upeksha (SL Universities) 5.63m.

Women’s 3000m Steeplechase:

1. U.K.N. Rathnayake (SL Army) 10:15.86secs, 2. H.K.I.T. Udayakumari (SL Army) 11:13.35 secs, 3. W.H.N. Kumari (SL Navy) 11:36.02 secs.

Men’s 200m: 1. Kalinga Kumarage (SL Army) 20.79 secs, 2. A.S.M Safan (SL Army) 21.41 secs, 3. S. Aruna Darshana (SL Army) 21.49 secs.

Men’s 5000m:

1. R.M.S. Pushpakumara (SL Army) 14:29.45 secs, 2. A.K. Tharanga (SL Air Force) 14:36.39 secs, 3. S.M.D.M. Samarakoon (SL Air Force) 14:46.07 secs.

Men’s Long Jump:

1. L. Sreshan Dhananjaya (SL Army) 7.71m, 2. K.K.M.K. Karunasekara (SL Army) 7.59m, 3. J.H.G. Sampath (SL Army) 7.58m.

Men’s Shot Put:

1. W.S.M. Fernando (SL Army) 16.12m, 2. R. Samitha Jayawardene (SL Army) 15.07m, 3. A.M.M. Perera (SL Police) 14.07m.

Men’s Javelin 1. R.M. Sumeda Ranasinghe (SL Army) 76.10m, 2. R.P. Waruna Dayarathna (SL Army) 71.86m, 3. Ranjith Nuwan Kumara (SL Army) 69.43m.