Sri Lanka’s athletes saved their best for the last as they won three gold medals at the final leg of the Asian Grand Prix at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday.
Nadeeka Lakmali won her third gold medal of the series with a better performance of 58.41 metres which was just 0.07 metres behind her Sri Lanka record.
In the process she was able to reply in the best way possible to officials who were responsible for terminating a pittance of an allowance for nutrition intake from last year which was the only thing she received from the government despite being an Olympic participant.
Dilhani Lekamge who finished fourth at the javelin throw in the first two legs was finally able to overcome the setbacks and win some consolation through a bronze medal with 53.67 metres while Anne Maheshi Silva was placed fifth with 48.68m.
WA Nimali the 800 metres gold medalist at the second leg retained her position with a personal best performance of 2:05.90.
Shanika Samanmali who won a bronze medal in the same discipline in the second leg finished fourth yesterday.
Manjula Kumara, who was not selected for the Asian Grand Prix as he missed the national trials, came back in flying colours to win the gold medal of the men’s high Jump.
Kumara’s 2.24 metres was also his seasonal best as he couldn’t go beyond the 2.23 metre mark before.
Milan Dissanayake was placed seventh with a 2.10 metre jump.
Men’s 400m runner Kasun Kalhara Seneviratne, who won bronze and silver in the first two legs, won the silver medal again yesterday by clocking his personal best timing of 46.84 seconds.
This was the second time the Sri Lankan ran below 47 seconds from last year as the previous timing was also by him when he ran 46.9 seconds last year.
Kalinga Kumara won the bronze medal in the 400m with 47.31 seconds while PHD Priyashanka was placed fourth with the same (47.31 seconds) timing.
Chamara Jayasekara was placed sixth.
Lionel Samarajeewa the bronze medalist in the men’s 5000m at the first leg won his place again as he finished third yesterday but with a better timing (14:43.15).
Sachith Maduranga was placed second in the men’s javelin throw even though he wasn’t at his best. Maduranga threw 73.99 metres to win the silver medal while the other javelin thrower Waruna Lakshan was placed fifth.
Two women long jumpers D.E. Rathnasiri (5.84m) and C.D.Priyadarshani (5.70m) were placed fifth and sixth in the long jump.
The Sri Lanka women’s relay team won the third place as Australia was disqualified in both races for dropping the baton.
Both Sri Lanka men and women sprinters were not impressive as Mohamed Safran ended seventh overall with 10.74 seconds while Jani Chathurangani Silva clocked 11.95 seconds to finish fourth.
The 400m women’s runners D.G.Pathmakumari (56.86) and W.U.Rathnakumari (57.94) were placed fourth and fifth respectively.
