Aruna Darshana raced his way to creating a historic milestone for Sri Lanka, securing third place in Heat 5 of the Men’s 400m in the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday evening.
He left all Sri Lankans in suspense with a nail-biting finish as he crossed over the line, recording his personal best of 44:99.
Aruna is also the first Sri Lankan sprinter since Sugath Thilakarathne’s performance in 1997 in Fukuoka, Japan, to run under 45 seconds.
Darshana also recorded the 17th fastest timing from the 44 sprinters that ran in the six heats conducted on Sunday. Kirani James won the heat which Aruna participated.
So far in the Olympics 2024, Aruna has also been the only athlete from Sri Lanka who has advanced to the next round in an event.
- Aruna Darshana qualifies for Paris Olympics 2024
- Tharushi’s Paris Olympics journey comes to an end
- Viren and Kyle at Paris 2024
Aruna Darshana started off strong; even being on the outermost track (lane 9), he took large, powerful strides and kept to his own pace. Towards the end, as all the athletes came head to head, and we thought he was falling slightly behind, in the most thrilling finish he pushed through and made sure to propel his body forward and cross the line, securing his spot in the next round.
His achievement, especially in the grueling event of the track, where a millisecond makes all the difference, is a massive step for Sri Lankan athletics. He has competed in one of the hardest track events and made our motherland proud!
The semi-finals for the Men’s 400m will be on the 6th of August at 11.05 pm.
Watch Aruna compete in the Semi-Finals on Sri Lanka’s No.1 Sports Channel – ThePapare available on Dialog Television (Ch.63), Dialog Viu App, and ThePapare.com website.
