Sri Lanka National Champion Gayanthika Abeyratne competed in the Women’s 800m Heats at the World Athletics Championship 2022 (Oregon 2022) earlier today (22nd) in Oregon, United States.
35-year-old Abeyratne ran in heat 2 of the event and managed to record a timing of 2.02.35min, securing 5th place. Unfortunately, this performance was not enough to secure the Sri Lankan a spot in the semifinals as only the first 3 of each heat went through along with the next 6 fastest athletes.
Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain finished the heat in 2.00.88mins to win the heat while the 2018 World Junior Champion from Ethiopia, Diribe Welteji registered the best timing of all 6 heats (1.58.83min)
Abeyratne’s timing will be go down as the 2nd fastest 2 lap performance by a Sri Lankan woman, behind her own National Record of 2:01.44min which was set at the 2022 National Championship by the same athlete. Her performance was also the fastest out of all the Asian athletes in the heats as she finished 29th out of 45 runners.
Abeyratne was the last Sri Lankan athlete to compete in this World Championship as Yupun Abeykoon and Nilani Rathnayaka also couldn’t go past the first rounds in their respective events.
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