National athletes who left the island yesterday (23rd) to compete in the 65th Interstate Athletics Championship in Patiala, India were geared with new competition kits by ‘BELIEVE’ Sportswear.

‘Believe’ is the sports and active wear arm of Ceylon Sports which is to be launched in the near future. The groundbreaking initiative by Ceylon Sports will see international style running gear manufactured in Sri Lanka for the first time. The trendy and modern collection include a wide range of sports gear seen in international competitions in the likes of two-piece running kits, one piece running kits, stylish calf wraps, headbands, warm up wear which are especially manufactured in consultation with experts. With the help of experts and athletes, ‘Believe’ has created customized collections for each athletic discipline named ‘Run’, ‘Jump’, ‘Throw’ which will cater to specific needs of the respective events.

‘We are grateful to ‘BELIEVE’ sportswear for providing kits for the National athletic team who will be competing at the 65th Interstate Athletics Championship in Patiala, India. The Athletes will be pushing for Olympic qualification, and we are thankful to ‘BELIEVE’ for coming forward to support our athletes. We hope to continue this partnership for all future National team involvements,” said Maj.Gen Palitha Fernando, President -Sri Lanka Athletics, expressing his admiration.

The team which took wing to India yesterday consists four athletes who are on the borderline of the Olympic qualification quota. Nilani Ratnayake who is already within the Olympic quota is also part of the team. The addition of women’s 4x100m relay team is a notable move as it is the first time they feature in an overseas competition outside the South Asian Games in 2016 and 2019. The team comprises of the first five athletes at the last National Athletics Championship. Four of the five athletes are below 21 years. Amasha de Silva, Shelinda Jansen, Medhani Jayamanne and Safiya Yamic will compete in the relay, while hurdler Lakshika Sugandhi is included as the fifth member.

Young sprinter, Shelinda Jansen of youth Olympic fame also expressed her admiration of ‘BELIVE’ sportswear. “It’s brilliant that Ceylon Sports have come up with the ‘BELIVE’ sportswear, as a young female athlete it’s very difficult to find trendy comfortable running gear in Sri Lanka for a decent price, I ran in ‘BELEIVE’ gear at the Nationals, and it was a perfect fit. I am excited to don this gear in India.”

Ceylon Sports provided running kits for athletes during the National Athletics championship and National Trials held at the Sugathadasa Stadium earlier this year and are hoping to join hands for upcoming International events such as World Junior Championship, Asian Athletics Championship, Asian Junior Championship and World Athletics championship 2022.

Ceylon Sports & Ceylon Athletics was Sri Lanka’s first web and social media platform which initiated providing much needed context and awareness on Sri Lankan Athletics aiding in the upliftment of the sport at a time athletics in the country was experiencing a dip in popularity. With several campaigns and coverage which included live streaming of all National and major international events and unique coverage methods it was able to increase athletes’ interest and desire for better performance while was able to bring fans back to athletics.

Extending beyond popularizing the sport, Ceylon Sports identified that Sri Lankan athletes did not have an avenue to get affordable international style running gear which will provide comfort during the events apart from paying hefty sums for major global brands.

‘BELIEVE’ is eyeing to fulfill this requirement in the local market and will soon be available for purchase online. National athletes will receive special discounts while a percentage of the income will be used to create a charity fund which will help underprivileged athletes, a service Ceylon Sports has been engaged in silence for many years.