Six new national records were established during the round one of the Asian championship trials held at the Diyagama Mahinda Rajapakse Stadium over the weekend.
First round of trails were held in order to shortlist the athletes that would represent the country at the Asian Championship. A second trial is set to take place in the first week of May for selected athletes who were not able to take part in the initial round.
Ajith Karunathilaka the sole male amongst the record breakers
Soldier Ajith Karunathilake, who gathered a total of 6884 points in the Decathlon championship to renew his own national record, was the only male competitor to re write the national record books at the trials with the rest of the records coming from 5 female athletes.
Women’s 800m rivalry
Gayanthika Abeyrathne dished out a brilliant run and got the better of Nimali Liyanarachi who established the 800m national record at the National sports festival in Jaffna. Gayanthika who was second best at the 4th National games was the victor this time at the 800m and with it managing to clinch the national record with a timing of 2 minutes 02.55 seconds while Nimali was split seconds away clinching the second place with a time of 02 minutes 02.58 seconds. Both athletes managed to better the previous national record of 02 minutes 05.32 seconds by Nimali at a grass turf in Jaffna. The rivalry on the tracks of both these athletes are proving to be excellent for the future of national athletics as they will look to seek new heights with important international competitions lined up this year.
Pole vaulting queen Aniththa does it again
The pole vaulting prodigy from the northern peninsula Aniththa Jeyaram who provided the Jaffna crowd with a performance that they can boast of at the 42nd national sports festival when she leapt a height of 3.41m bettered her own record with a jump of 3.45m to renew her national record. Jeyaram is definitely one for the future as she has been breaking the national records in her stride and is still merely 19 years of age.
Ayesha Vidusha and Nilani renew their feats
Ayesha Maduwanthi the current holder of the national Hammer throw event bettered her own record at the trials with an improved throw of 47.92m. Maduwanthi has already bettered her own record a couple of times and is thriving for that all important silverware come the Asian championships.
Ace triple jumper Vidusha Lakshani bettered her own personal best and the National record with a jump of 13.46m. Lakshani clinched the national record last year with a performance of 13.41m last year and is determined to show up the authorities who have overlooked her for the national pool.
Nilani Ratnayake also renewed her very own 3000m steeple chase record with a time of 10 minutes 03.94 seconds. Ratnayake was a class apart from the rest of the pack and needs to be commended for achieving the feat despite the lack of competition from the rest of the competitors.
