At around 05.00 pm on 01st September 2017, under a gloomy leaky sky in Diyagama, Ajith Kumara Karunathilaka went past 7000 points, amassing 7096 points, which brightened up an otherwise gloomy ending to the Deacathlon event at the 95th National Athletic Championship many wouldn’t have taken much notice of.
Decathlon doesn’t receive much attention most of the time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s the nature of Decathlon. Termed as the Men’s ultimate all round test, athletes are required to be mentally and physically in prime condition to be able to perform in this rigorous activity that pans over 2 days. It covers the whole range of athletic disciplines over two days.
The first day consists of (in order) – 100m, long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m. The second day events are 110m hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin and 1500m.
The layout of the events above needs to be completed in the same order. Starting off with the speed of 100m and to finish off, the gut and grit part, the 1500m. This event, more times than not, gets lost in between the other more glamourous and exciting, individual events that make up the program.
In June at the Thailand Open, Ajith Karunathilaka became the national record holder in the Decathlon where he amased 6916 points. At the 95th National Sports festival he was in top form throughout the two days. Kumara had an impressive run since starting off with a win in the 100m and managed to be placed fourth in the 1500m
1st Day results
100m – 841 points
Long Jump – 842 Points
Shot Put – 477 Points
High Jump – 705 Points
400m – 817 Points
2nd Day results
110m Hurdles – 484 points
Discus throw – 837 points
Pole vault – 790 Points
Javelin Throw – 678 Points
1500m- 625 points
Ajith Kumara needed to finish the final event, the 1500m of the Decathlon under 5 minutes, which would get him 520points in order to surpass 7000 points. He managed to finish the final race in 4 mins and 49 seconds and accumulated 625 points and finished the event with a grand total of 7096.
The Papare.com wishes to congratulate the courageous strongman Ajith Karunathilaka for achieving this magnificent milestone in the history of Sri Lankan Athletics and eagerly await to see him excel on the international stage.