Sri Lanka’s ace sprinter Himasha Eshan will feature in the Men’s 200m while Gayanthika Abeyrathne will feature in the Women’s 1500m in addition to their regular events of Men’s 100m and Women’s 800m respectively.
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Himasha Eshan, who broke the 100m national record at the National trials earlier this year, clocking 10.22secs was initially only entered to compete in the Men’s 100m at the Asian Athletic Championship which will commence in Doha, Qatar on the 21st of April, but has now been entered into the Men’s 200m as well. With 100m being the main focus for the sprinter, the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka has given the greenlight for Eshan to compete in the 200m since the 100m finals will be completed by the second day of the meet with the 200m being worked out over the third and the fourth day of the competition. The speedster currently holds a personal best of 21.17 in the Men’s 200m which was recorded at the 2014 Asian Junior Athletic Championship in Taipei. Himasha clocked a time of 21.12 in October last year at Sugathadasa Stadium with the wind gauge reading +2.3 which was over the legal limit.
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Himasha Eshan’s competition schedule at the Asian Athletic Championship 2019
| Day 1 | Qatar Time | SL Time | Event | Gender | Phase |
| 21st | 18:26 | 8.56pm | 100m | Men | Round 1 |
| Day 2 | |||||
| 22nd | 17:45 | 8.15pm | 100m | Men | Semi Final |
| 22nd | 20:20 | 10.50pm | 100m | Men | Final |
| Day 3 | |||||
| 23rd | 9:40 | 12.10pm | 200m | Men | Round 1 |
| 23rd | 16:55 | 17:25 | 200m | Men | Semi Final |
| Day 4 | |||||
| 24th | 17:48 | 8.18pm | 200m | Men | Final |
Gayanthika Abeyrathne one of Sri Lanka’s medal prospects in the Women’s 800m, alongside Nimali Liyanarachchi, will also feature in the Women’s 1500m. Gayanthika was initially only entered to the 800m with the 1500m heats set to take place on the same day prior to the 800m final but has now been granted permission to compete with the 1500m event commencing after the 800m. Gayanthika is the current national record holder in the Women’s 800m having clocked a time of 2.02.55mins but was primarily a long distancer before making the switch to 800m. Her personal best of 4:18.7mins in the 1500m was recorded in 2016 while she ran a seasonal best time of 4:20.22mins at the national trials which were held in February this year.
Gayanthika Abeyrathne’s competition schedule at the Asian Athletic Championship 2019
| Day 1 | Qatar Time | SL Time | Event | Gender | Phase |
| 21st | 8:30 | 11.00am | 800m | Women | Round 1 |
| Day 2 | |||||
| 22nd | 18:58 | 9.28pm | 800m | Women | Final |
| Day 4 | |||||
| 24th | 18:06 | 8.46pm | 1500m | Women | Final |
Sri Lanka’s #1 sports hub, ThePapare.com will travel to the Khalifa stadium, Doha, Qatar in the Arabian Peninsula to bring all the action of the Asian Athletic Championship to your fingertips. Watch out for previews, live results, live photos, exclusive and insightful videos of the progress of the Sri Lankan contingent at the Asian Athletics Championship 2019.
