Current national record holder and the first Sri Lankan to qualify for the Men’s Javelin throw event at the Olympic Games, Sumedha Ranasinghe, took the field for his event early this morning.
Competing in Group A, Ranasinghe was unable to reach his best performance as he only managed a throw of 71.93m. He was placed 18th in his qualification group and 36th overall thereby failing to qualify for the final of the event. Julian Weber of Germany topped the group with a distance of 84.46m while Keshome Walcott of Trinidad & Tobago was the top qualifier overall with a distance of 88.68m.
Ranasinghe’s personal best and the current national record of 83.04m would have placed him amongst the top 10 competitors and earned him a place in the finals. Brian Toledo of Argentina took the 12th and final spot in the final with a distance of 81.96m.
All the Sri Lankan athletes except Indrajith Cooray, the skipper of the contingent, have completed their events; Cooray will take part in the Olympic marathon on the 21st of August.
