Kumudu Priyanka finishes eighth in 100m heats

Priyanka, second from left, finished eighth in her 100m heat

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka’s only women’s athlete at the 16th Paralympics, Kumudu Priyanka was placed eighth with a time of 13.31s in the 100m T47 heats at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Japan yesterday.

As a result, Priyanka was unable to qualify for the final of this event.

Priyanka could not get a good start and always struggled to reach the qualifying mark.

The first three athletes in this event Marina Lisbeli of Venezuela (12.14s), Deja Young of the US (12.26s) and Lu Li of China (12.58s) were able to qualify for the final from this heat.

Meanwhile, Priyanka will compete in the T47 long jump event on September 3 while Maduranga Subasinghe will compete in the Men’s 400m T47 heats on the same day.    

Sri Lanka is currently in 47th place in the Paralympics medals table having so far won one Gold Medal and one Bronze Medal.

In fact, Sri Lanka along with India is the only South Asian nations to have won a medal at the Para Games, which has a participation of 4,537 athletes from 163 countries.   

India has so far won eight medals including two Gold Medals, four Silver Medals and two Bronze Medals.
Meanwhile, Samitha Kodithuwakku, who won a Bronze Medal in the javelin throw event, is set to receive a promotion from the Army Military Police.