Tharushi, Aruna chase Olympic dream after Taiwan heroics

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka’s quest for a 2024 Paris Olympic spot continued as Tharushi Karunaratne, Dilhani Lekamge, and Aruna Dharshana impressed with a fine performance at the Taiwan Open Athletic Championship in Chinese Taipei yesterday.

Tharushi bagged the gold medal in the women’s 400m and 800m events, and Dilhani secured the silver medal in the women’s javelin throw, while Dharshana clinched the gold medal in the men’s 400m final. 

Tharushi won the 800m with a time of 2:05.74s and took the 400m final with a time of 52.48s.

However, Nadeesha Ramanayake had to settle for fourth place in the women’s 400m with a time of 53.93s.

Meanwhile, Dharshana won the 400m with a time of 45.82s, while Gayanthika Abeyrathna won the silver medal in the women’s 1,500m with a time of four minutes 24.66s.

In addition, Dilhani took second place in the javelin throw event with a performance of 52.79m.

However, no Sri Lankan athlete has qualified to participate in the Paris Olympic Games despite competing in a series of international events during the last few weeks.
Most of them were able to win medals, but they were far behind in reaching the Olympic Qualifying standards.

The 12-member Sri Lankan elite athletic squad, including sprinter Yupun Abeykoon, participated in seven international events, but none of them were able to make it to the Olympic Games. 

The deadline for the final qualification for the Paris Olympic Games athletic events is June 30.

With time running out for the Sri Lankan athletes, Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) has arranged three additional international events for the elite athletes, SLA Secretary Saman Gunawardana told the Daily Mirror yesterday.

Therefore, Aruna Dharshana and Kalinga Kumarage (Men’s 400m) will compete in the North America, Central America, and Caribbean Athletics Association Championships on June 12 in Nassau, Bahamas.

Meanwhile, Dilhani Lekamge, Diana Hasanthi, Sumedha Ranasinghe, and Rumesh Tharanga (javelin throw—men’s and women’s) will participate in the Asian Throwing Championships on June 15–16 in Mokpo, South Korea.

Kalinga Kumarage (men’s 400m), Aruna Dharshana (men’s 400m), and Tharushi Karunarathna (women’s 800m) will compete in the International Athletics Competition (World Athletics Bronze Label) Meet in Bilbao, Spain, on June 18.

In case the elite athletes fail to reach the Olympic Qualifying standards even at these international meets, their last chance to make an impact will be the Sri Lanka Athletic Nationals from June 27–29 in Colombo.