Sprinter Dharshana climbs up the raking for World Championships

How a second ranked Sri Lankan got on the ‘Road to Budapest 2023’

by Reemus Fernando

From being the second-ranked Sri Lankan sprinter in the men’s 400 metres, Aruna Dharshana has fought his way back within a week to secure the 42nd position in the Road to Budapest 2023 rankings which list athletes currently eligible for the forthcoming World Championships in Athletics.

Dharshana’s decision to compete in Japan using his own funds has paid rich dividends as he has now entered the World Athletics’ Road to Budapest 2023 rankings in the 42nd position for 400 metres.

A fortnight ago Dharshana was the second-ranked Sri Lankan behind Kalinga Kumarage in his pet event. Within just days the athlete trained by Asanka Rajakaruna has not only overtaken Kumarage to take the top spot in the county rankings but has also secured a place among the top ten in Asia.

Last month Kumarage was in the 8th place in the Asian rankings, while Dharshana was trailing in the 18th position in the region. According to the latest world rankings published by World Athletics, Dharshana has advanced to the seventh position in Asia, while Kumarage has dropped to the 16th position. What has stood Dharshana in good stead is his back-to-back personal best performances at competitions held in Japan.

On May 3rd, Dharshana clocked 45.59 seconds at the 38th Shizuoka International Athletics Meet at Prefectural Shizuoka Stadium, Fukuroi, Japan. Three days later Dharshana improved his personal best again when he clocked 45.49 seconds to be placed second at a competition held in (Kinami Michitaka Memorial Athletics Meet at Yanmar Stadium Nagai) Osaka. The performances at the World Athletics ranked competitions earned Dharshana valuable scoring points to improve his rankings.

Apart from sprinter Yupun Abeykoon, Dharshana is the only Sri Lankan male athlete to have entered the ‘Road to Budapest 2023’ rankings. Though his current position will not guarantee his ticket to the World Championships taking place in August, his participation at the National Championships and a couple of other international competitions including the upcoming Asian Championships are going to augur well for the Artillery Regiment athlete.

Early this month Dharshana, Gayanthika Abeyratne and Nilani Ratnayake took part in World Athletics ranked competitions in Japan on their own in a bid to improve their world rankings. That was a groundbreaking moment in country’s track and field history as athletes had been previously relying heavily on Sri Lanka Athletics, National Olympic Committee or the Sports Ministry for such opportunities.