Sprinter Abeykoon inches closer to Olympic qualification

By Susil Premalal

Italian-based Sri Lankan sprinter Yupun Abeykoon inched closer towards achieving the Olympic standard qualifying mark in the men’s 100 metres when he renewed the Sri Lanka record by clocking 10.15s at an international meeting on Thursday.

Abeykoon surged into the national limelight when he smashed Himasha Eshan’s record of 10.24s when he clocked 10.16s at a competition in Germany earlier this year.

Going by his performances in the recent past, Abeykoon has a very good chance of achieving direct qualification for the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics, according to Sri Lanka Athletics Recorder Saman Kumara Gunawardena.

World Athletics has set a qualifying standard of 10.05secs in the men’s 100m for the Tokyo Games.

Sri Lanka Athletics is hopeful Abeykoon will run within that time in upcoming international competitions before the qualifying window closes.