Record breaking Dilshi set to climb up rankings

Dilshi Kumarasinghe’s record breaking feat at the First Selection Trial concluded on Friday will augur well for her Olympic aspirations as she is set to climb up Asian Rankings sooner rather than later. 

On Friday Kumarasinghe clocked 2:02.52 seconds to erase the women’s 800 metres National Record held by Gayanthika Abeyratne.  

The former Ratnayake Central, Walala athlete was ranked sixth in Asia following her outstanding performance last December. Incidentally there are three Sri Lankans in the top six rankings in Asia in the women’s 800 metres. 

Former national champion Nimali Liyanarachchi is ranked third in Asia while Abeyratne is ranked fifth. 

Climbing up rankings has become vital after World Athletics introduced a ranking based system for athletes to earn Olympic qualifications. 

For Tokyo Olympics, World Athletics set a tough entry standard of 1:59.50 seconds for the women’s 800 metres. While 23 athletes will be selected through direct qualification system, 25 others will be selected according to their world rankings. 

Though there are five athletes above Kumarasinghe in Asian rankings, the top two ranked athletes from Bahrain and China are yet to compete this year. The fourth ranked Japanese Ayano Shiomi too is yet to compete this year. 

Kumarasinghe’s coach Susantha Fernando is optimistic that his charge would reach qualifying standards during the next couple of months.  

Apart from the 800 metres Kumarasinghe is also in Sri Lanka Athletics’ plan to form a mix relay team. Kumarasinghe who was part of the Sri Lanka women’s 4×400 meters relay team which established the current national record at the last Asian Athletics Championships was also the winner of the women’s 400 metres at the Selection Trial.