National Sports Games athletics begin today

By Susil Premalal 
All arrangements have been finalized to conduct the finale of the 47th National Sports Games (NSG) athletics from August 24 to 26 at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.   
The Ministry of Sports has taken steps to name the previously held National Sports Festival as National Sports Games from 2023.   
A total of 760 athletes (409 men and 351 women) will vie for honours representing all nine provinces in athletics.   
Today, which is the opening day of the competition, six final events are scheduled to be held and arrangements have been made to start the competition with the 10,000m women’s final, said the Director General of the Department of Sports Development, Rear Admiral (Professor) Shemal Fernando.   

In addition to this, the 5,000m men, Javelin men, Pole Vault women, 4x100m women’s relay and 4x100m men’s relay finals and the Opening Ceremony will be held today.   
The Opening Ceremony will be held under the patronage of the Prime Minister, Dinesh Gunawardene at 3:00 p.m.   
The Closing Ceremony will be held under the auspices of President Ranil Wickramasinghe at 3:00 p.m. on August 26.   
A total of 262 Gold medals, 262 Silver medals and 360 Bronze medals is being awarded this year. The competitions in 30 disciplines were conducted and a total of 5,806 athletes that included 3,215 men and 2,591 women represented the nine provinces.   
The honor of lighting the ‘Games Flame’ at the Opening Ceremony has been bestowed on E. M. L. Priyankara and M. A. S. Shivantha Jayathilake of the Western Province in keeping with the tradition.   

Priyankara has excelled in Wrestling and Judo at national and international competitions becoming the most outstanding athlete in both the sports at five National Sports Games.   
Jayatilake is an athlete who has won laurels in the sprint double of 100m and 200m at the National Sports Games.   
The Ministry of Sports together with the Department of Sports Development is conducting the mega event under the leadership and guidance of the Minister of Sports, Roshan Ranasinghe.