Darshana edge towards Paris Olympic dream

By: Susil Premalal

May 28 (Daily Mirror) - Sri Lankan sprinter Aruna Darshana further boosted his chances of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games by securing the Gold Medal in the Men’s 400m event at the second Belt and Road Athletics Invitation Meet in Chongqing, China.

The 25-year-old athlete from Sinhapura, Trincomalee and the South Asian Games Gold Medallist lived upto expectations and powered his way to finish the 400m final with a splendid time of 45.48s.

Darshana of course, started the final brimming with confidence after having advanced to the final on the previous day with the second fastest time from heats as he commenced his first overseas campaign of the year on a successful note.

His effort in the final was a vast improvement as he clocked 46.26s earlier to win the heat in this meet - a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze Label event. The Olympic Qualifying standard time for the Men’s 400m event is 45.00s.

In fact, Darshana is the second fastest athlete in Asia in the 400m event based on his 45.30s-performance at the Trial event held at Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex in Diyagama in March. The fastest in this event is Japan’s Kentaro Sato (45.21s).