Special Athletic Selection Trial on June 30

By Susil Premalal  

Sri Lanka Athletic (SLA) Executive Committee has decided to conduct the National Open Stage II Paris Olympic Games Special Selection Trial on June 30 at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.  

This event will be conducted for Sri Lanka’s elite athletes, currently vying for a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games from July 26 to August 11 in France.   

The event has been upgraded to a World Athletics Category ‘E’ competition and will be visible on the World Athletic Global Calendar.  

The deadline set by the IAAF to reach the Paris Olympic Qualifying standard is June 30 at midnight.  

So far, no Sri Lankan athlete has qualified to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and the Special Selection Trial on June 30 will be their last chance to reach their goal. The events that will be held at the Special Selection Trial are the Men’s 100m, 400m and javelin throw while the Women’s events are 400m, 800m, 1,500m and javelin throw.  

All eight finalists from the 102nd Sri Lanka National Championships to be held from June 25 to 27 will be invited to compete at the Special Selection Trial.   

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan elite athletes will also participate in the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletics Association Championships – a World Athletics Silver Label Meet on June 12 in Nassau, Bahamas, Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo, South Korea on June 15 and 16 and International Athletics Competition – a World Athletics Bronze Label Meet in Bilbao, Spain on June 18.  Kalinga Kumarage (Men’s 400m), Aruna Dharshana (Men’s 400m), Sumeda Ranasinghe, Rumesh Tharanga, Diana Hasanthi, Dilhani Lekamge (Men’s and Women’s javelin throw) and Tharushi Karunarathna (Women’s 800m) will participate at these international events.