Tharushi books semi-final spot at World Junior Championships

Despite arriving in Cali barely eight hours before the competition Ratnayake Central athlete Tharushi Karunaratne had enough energy to secure a semi-final berth in the 400 metres at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Colombia on Tuesday.

Competing in the third heat Karunaratne finished fourth in a time of 54.13 seconds to secure the semi-final spot. At the completion of the first round (five heats) her time was ranked 16th.

It was a huge accomplishment after more than 24 hours of traveling and the pre tour uncertainty, which had already cost her the chances of competing in her pet event.

Karunaratne could not make it to her pet event, the women’s 800 metres, after missing the hastily arranged flight in the evening on Saturday. She left the island on July 31 with the second batch of athletes knowing that she would miss the 800 metres.

She was scheduled to compete in the semi-finals in the evening yesterday (early morning SL time today).

The 17-year-old has a personal best of 53.85 seconds in the 400 metres from April this year and was among the top five athletes in her age category in Asia. In the 800 metres she was the second fastest in Asia in her age category this year.

The athlete trained by Susantha Fernando was competing in her second consecutive Junior World Championships after featuring in the last edition in Kenya last year.

Meanwhile, St. Peter’s College long jumper Hirusha Hashen could not compete in his event due to a flight delay despite leaving on July 30.