Sri Lankan athletes off to Paris Olympic Games

Seated (From left): Saman Gunawardena (Athletic Manager),Tharushi Karunarathna, Aruna Dharshana, Dilhani Lekamge, Major General (Retd) Palitha Fernando (President, Sri Lanka Athletic). Standing (From left): Asanka Rajakaruna (Coach), Pradeep Nishantha (Coach) and Susantha Fernando (Coach)   

By Susil Premalal  

The Sri Lanka Athletic Team led by international Medallist and 37-year-old veteran Women’s athlete Dilhani Lekamge will leave for France today to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.  

The 33rd Olympic Games will be staged from July 26 to August 11 in Paris, France.  

The Sri Lankan Olympic contingent will include three athletes, two swimmers and one badminton player.  

Sri Lanka is only second to India in the number of participating athletes for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games from the South Asian region. Shuttler Viren Nettasinghe and the two swimmers Kyle Abeysinghe and Ganga Senevirathna have already arrived in Paris along with their respective coaches.  

The Sri Lanka athletic contingent will include Dilhani Lekamge (Women’s javelin throw), Tharushi Karunarathna (Women’s 800m) and Aruna Dharshana (Men’s 400m) and coaches Pradeep Nishantha, Susantha Fernando and Asanka Rajakaruna.  

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Athletic Team Manager Saman Gunawardena is set to leave for Paris on July 30.  

Sri Lanka’s main goal will be to qualify for the second round of their respective athletic events, according to sources from the athletic coaches.   

Nettasinghe will participate in the Men’s Singles group stage event on July 27. In addition, Senevirathna will compete on July 29 in the Women’s 100m backstroke heats and Abeysinghe will compete on July 30 in the Men’s 100m freestyle heats.  

The Paris Olympic Games track and field events will be held from August 1 to 11.   

Karunarathna will compete on August 2 in the Women’s 800m first round, Dharshana will compete in the Men’s 400m first round on August 4 and Lekamge will compete in the Women’s javelin throw qualification event on August 7.