Darshana disqualified for lane infringement

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka’s Aruna Darshana ended his campaign at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games when he was disqualified for a lane infringement after finishing fifth in the Men’s 400m second semi-final in France yesterday.

However, the 25-year-old rural athlete from Seruwila in Trincomalee, returned a personal best time of 44.75s, but failed to advance to the final due to the disqualification.

The first two runners of the race from Grenada and Zambia qualified to run in the 400m final after they had clocked 43.78s and 43.81s respectively.

Earlier, Darshana clocked 44.99s and finished third in the 400m heats, becoming the first Sri Lankan 400m runner to reach the Olympic semi-finals.

Darshana is only the second Sri Lankan to break the 45-second barrier in the Men’s 400m after the legendary Sugath Thilakaratne.

Darshana came into the Paris Olympic Games having participated in seven international events where he ran under 45 seconds in all those events.

The former schoolboy from Weera Keppetipola National School in Akuramboda first came into the limelight in 2018 when he won the Gold Medal at the Asian Junior Athletic Championships in Japan with a record-breaking performance.