Foreign athletes withdraw from Sri Lanka Athletic Nationals

By Susil Premalal

Top athletes from South Asia and South East Asia have withdrawn from participating in the Centenary Celebration of Sri Lanka National Athletic Championship.   

Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) will be staging the 2022 Centenary Celebration Athletic National Championship on April 8, 9 and 10 at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex in Diyagama.   
Foreign athletes won’t be coming because of the uncertain situation in the country. About 15 or 20 athletes from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam were expected to participate in this event.   

There are 735 entries (520 men and 215 women) for the Athletic Nationals.   

This meet will serve as the final selection athletic trials for the Commonwealth Games (July 28 to August 8) in Birmingham, England and Asian Games (September 10 to 25) in Hangzhou, China.