Darshana edge towards Paris Olympic dream

Secures 400m Gold Medal in China

By Susil Premalal 

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 yesterday. 
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).

Darshana also won the Men’s 200m event heats with a time of 21.23s with the final scheduled for today. The Paris Olympic entry standard is at 20.16s.

Meanwhile, Dilhani Lekamge will be looking to improve her current position in the Road to Paris 2024 Olympic Rankings when she participates in the Women’s javelin throw event today.
Lekamge is currently ranked 30th in the Road to Paris 2024 Rankings. The Paris Olympics has 32 slots for the Women’s javelin.