The third day of actions of the athletic competition of the 3rd Asian Youth Games concluded at Bahrain National Stadium, in Riffa, Bahrain, and Sri Lankan athletes fell short of a medal even though they came closer to podium finishes.
Youth sprinting queen from Holy Cross College, Gampaha, Tharani Nirmina was the first Sri Lankan athlete to feature in an event on day 3 of the competition. After a highly competitive race, Tharani managed to secure her place in the girls’ 200-metre final, though she was placed fourth in the preliminary round. The final race was a tough task for the Sri Lankan athlete, and she placed 7th with a timing of 25.37 seconds.
Sri Lanka’s strong medal prospect from Devapathiraja Vidyalaya, Rathgama, P. H. Amaya, took part in the finals of the girls’ 400-metre hurdles event. After a closely contested race with a photo finish ending, unluckily Amaya fell short of a medal by a whisker (by 0.26 seconds by clocking 1 minute 01.72 seconds). Lin Qiuo-Ling of Chinese Taipei won the gold by clocking an explosive time of 1 minute and 00.31 seconds. After the tough battle, silver and bronze medals went to Kosinova Margarita of Kazakhstan (1 minute 01.36 seconds) and Rahmonova Shodiyona of Uzbekistan (1 minute 01.46 seconds).
Another future prospect of Sri Lanka from Ginigathhena Maha Vidyalaya took the field as Chirantha Deshan featured in the finals of the 2000-metre steeplechase event. The event featured top talents of Asia, and at the end, Lahiru also failed to impress the local fans. But he displayed an improved performance with 6 minutes and 30.75 seconds, and he placed 9th in the event.
Sri Lanka’s field athlete Dilini Nethsala Rajapaksha competed in the finals of the girls’ long jump event, and she placed 8th with a distance of 5 metres 50 centimetres. The rising talent from Lyceum International School, Wattala, failed to leap even closer to her personal best of 6.02 metres, and another Sri Lankan medal hope was shattered.
The talented athlete from St Servatius’ College, Matara, Rusith Nimsara, took part in the finals of the boys’ long jump event, and unluckily, he also fell short of a medal.
The last Sri Lankan athlete to feature on the day was Nathan Wiladdara. The promising talent from Rahula College, Matara, had featured in the 800-metre final, and he failed to get even closer to his personal best timing of 1 minute and 57.42 seconds, which came at the National Schools Meet.
Diyagama. But Nathan placed 7th in the star-studded race with a timing of 2 minutes and 01.93 seconds, and it was a below-par performance from him compared to his preliminary round timing of 1 minute and 58.08 seconds.
Without adding anything to the medal tally from athletics on Day 3, Sri Lanka still runs with a medal bag of one gold and three bronze medals.
