Four-member elite team for UAE Grand Prix

By Susil Premalal   
The four-member Sri Lanka athletic team will leave for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today to participate in the UAE Grand Prix Meet, which will be held on May 3 in Dubai. Sri Lanka Athletic (SLA) have named four elite sprinters for this event, which is part of the World Athletic Continental Tour- Bronze, SLA Secretary Saman Gunawardena told the Daily Mirror yesterday.   
A host of top athletes vying for Paris Olympic Qualification are set to participate in this meet. No Sri Lankan athlete is yet to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.   
The Sri Lankan contingent will include Birmingham Commonwealth Games (2022) Bronze Medallist and South Asian fastest sprinter Yupun Abeykoon (100m Men), Hangzhou Asian Games Gold Medallist Tharushi Karunarathna (800m Women), Nadisha Ramanayake (Hangzhou Asian Games 400m Women’s fifth place) and Gayanthika Abeyrathna (Hangzhou Asian Games 1,500m Women’s fourth place and 800m Women’s eighth place).   

Meanwhile, Susantha Fernando and Buddhika Thushara will accompany the Sri Lanka team as the coaches of Tharushi, Gayanthika and Nadeesha while the coaching staff of Abeykoon is set to arrive directly from Italy.   
SLA has approved seven international events for the Sri Lankan elite athletes to obtain qualification for the Paris Olympics with the deadline on June 30.