KitSports » Sri Lanka Athletic

Hat-trick of wins from Nimali Liyanarachchi…….

kit-sports editor — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 01:22:42 +0000

Nimali Liyanarachchi completed a hat-trick of wins at the 2015 Asian Athletics Grand Prix when she won her pet event, the women’s 800 metres final at Ayuththaya, Thailand last afternoon. Nimali who clocked 3:06.73 seconds, was closely followed by her former training partner Gayanthika Abeyratne who took 0.09 seconds more to finish the event to bag the silver medal.

In the men’s 800 metres, Indunil Herath clocked 1:51.61 seconds to bag his third silver medal in Thailand this year.

Seasoned high jumper Manjula Kumara Wijesekara made his best attempt at the AGP series this year and leapt 2.23 metres to win the second place. Shehan Ambepitiya ran a 10.76 second sprint against the wind and was placed third.

Javelin thrower Waruna Lakshan Dayaratne also gave his best effort this season when he landed his javelin at a distance of 74.15 metres and won the third place. The Lankan 4×100 metres relay team was placed third with 39.79 seconds behind Thailand and Hong Kong who shared first and second placed respectively.

Sri Lanka Masters Athletic Association;Mahesh Abeyratna qualifies for World Masters’ Championship

kit-sports editor — Thu, 28 May 2015 01:22:23 +0000

Veteran hammer thrower Mahesh Abeyratna set a new meet record of 34.88 metres at the Masters Athletics Championships and qualified for World Masters’ Championships which will be held in Leon, France in the near future.

He erased the previous record of 31.08 metres with his record breaking throw at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Diyagama.

The meet was organized by Sri Lanka Masters Athletic Association. Mahesh took part in the over-45 men’s hammer throw and javelin throw.

He has represented Sri Lanka in the Asian Masters Athletic Championship and has performed well in Javelin and Hammer Throw events.

He is serving in the Sri Lanka Army and representing the Army Athletic Committee .

Chief Guest at this annual meet was the General Secretary of World Masters Athletic Association Winston Thomas from USA.

– See more at: http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=sports/mahesh-abeyratna-qualifies-world-masters-championship#sthash.Ik7ZaJ2I.dpuf

The Athletics Association at AASL election..

kit-sports editor — Thu, 14 May 2015 05:22:36 +0000

Former athletic sensation Sugath Thilakaratne will be up against retired DIG Upali Kumarasiri for the top post of the Athletics Association at AASL election was held at the Auditorium of the National Institute of Sports Science (NISS) today at 9.00 am.
Both Thilakaratne and Kumarasiri found backing of the many athletics administrators who will be no longer be eligible for re-election due to the amendment of the sports law which states any administrator who has served four years in a top post of a national sports association will not be eligible for re-election.
Kumarasiri is said to be a close ally of NOC chief Hemasiri Fernando while a number of district associations too had come forward to back Kumarasiri who is also a veteran administrator.
On the other hand Thilakaratne was nominated from many district associations and clubs while having found the backing of one of top athletics administrator’s who has the backing of much of the voter base which will be more than enough for Thilakaratne to win.
In the fight for the Secretary position, Sunimal Rupasinghe who represents Masters Athletics Association is said to have an advantage over Palitha Jayathillake who is a veteran athletics official as well a teacher in the Lyceum International School. Incumbent assistant treasurer Tornado Jayasundera will be uncontested in the post of treasurer.
Thilakaratne, the Asian Games 400m record holder and only athlete in the island to go beyond 45 seconds mark in the event (44.61 seconds), had got the opportunity because of the new law as a number of top officials are out of the contest. He said this will be a good opportunity to learn about administrating sports. He was the glamour boy of 90s athletics where he had won a number of international medals including gold in

Asian Games along with two Olympic participations (1996 and 2000) and four World Championship honours. Yet he is most famous for beating the world 400m record holder Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics preliminary round, where the world started to talk about the sprinter from the island nation who surprised everyone in that race including Johnson.
There will be 15 candidates vying for seven vice president positions including a female. Meanwhile, long serving recorder of the association, Saman Kumara will be contesting to maintain his position for the first time in 20 years with A.N.B. Senarath set to contest him for that post today.