The oldest sporting fixture for Sri Lankan athletes is recognized as the Sir John Tarbet Athletic Championship. The 85th edition of it will unfold tomorrow at the Mahinda Rajapakse Stadium in Diyagama.
The Sir John Tarbet Athletic Championship was inaugurated in the early years of 1930 in honor to Mr. John Tarbet – a British national who was the president of the Sri Lanka Athletic Association in the late 1920s. This is the oldest and the most prestigious athletic meet in Sri Lanka; the senior championship began in 1930 while the junior championship began in 1968.
In the 85th edition of the championship over 3000 athletes will contest for three long days starting from tomorrow. This has been the platform for many renowned names in the Sri Lankan athletic fraternity for them build up the foundation that is needed for them to compete in the international arena.
The President of the Sri Lankan School`s Athletic Association Mr. N.A.D.R Hemantha speaking today at the media briefing stated that all the results of the past years as well as this year`s results will be updated on the new website that was launched to the tournament only.
Addressing the media; he further stated the about the plans for the Asian Youth Games in 2017. Sri Lanka will be hosting the games and hence the main motive behind the championship is to select a national pool to train and bring out the best athletes into limelight so they could perform best at the future champions.
The national pool selected out of both the senior and junior championships will be trained with one target and that is the Asian Youth Games 2017. The junior meet will be held in the month of September in Anuradhapura.
