Yodasinghe accomplishes massive feat

Sprinter Chamod Yodasinghe gave Sri Lanka enough reasons to celebrate by securing a semi-final berth in the 60 metres dash on day one of the World Indoor Athletics Championship in Nanjing China on Friday.

The athlete trained by Sanjeewa Weerakkody clocked a blistering time of 6.70 seconds to secure a third place decided by photofinish. He was aiming at bettering Yupun Abeykoon’s 60 metres national indoor record at the world stage but was behind even his own personal best competing less than 24 hours after landing in China. Despite not going beyond the semi-final stage Yodasinghe’s achievement will augur well for the sport.

Sri Lanka Athletics has been largely depending on Italy based sprinter Yupun Abeykoon for country’s representation at global events in the shortest sprint. With his semi-final appearance Yodasinghe has proved beyond doubt that he is ready to impress at the big stage.

Yodasinghe’s heat performance was ranked 24th among a field of 58 athletes who faced starter’s orders in eight heats.

While Kaveesha Bandara was scheduled to compete in the 60 metres hurdles heat yesterday (Saturday) Sri Lanka’s men’s and women’s 4×400 metres relay teams are set to compete in the relay finals in the final two events of the three-day competition.

by Reemus Fernando