Sri Lankan Track and field athletes competed in three finals and a semi-final today (11th) and ended their journey at the 21st Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast Australia.
High Jumper Manjula Kumara, Long Jumper Prasad Wimalasiri and Women’s Javelin Thrower Dilhani Lekamge all took part in their respective finals while Rumeshika Ratnayake competed in the Women’s 200m semi-final having achieved qualification yesterday, coming second in the heat.
Disappointing outing for Manjula
Manjula Kumara who qualified for the men’s High jump clearing 2.21m in the qualification round failed to clear the starting height of 2.18m in the final today (11th). Veteran Kumara was suffering from an injury that he picked up on his leg during an Australian competition he participated. Kumara was training in the land down under targeting the Commonwealth Games and the upcoming Asian Games and will look to recover in time for the Asian Games which might be his final major international competition.
Brandon Starc of Australia won Gold with a personal best height of 2.32m with Jamal Wilson of Bahamas and Django Lovett of Canada winning the Silver and the Bronze medals respectively after capping off at 2.30m.
Rumeshi clocks 23.60 in the Semis
Rumeshika Ratnayake who competed in the first semi-final of the women’s 200m was placed 6th in the competition clocking 23. 60secs.Rumeshika qualified for the semifinals with a run of 23.43secs and was hoping to better her personal best time of 23.40secs but failed to do so in the semifinal. Shericka Jackson ran a personal best time of 22.28secs followed by Dina Ashehr-Smith 22.44secs to qualify from the semi-final and were the two fastest athletes to qualify for the Women’s 200m final which will be held on the 12th April.
Dilhani placed 5th in the Javelin throw
National Javelin champion Dilhani Lekamge was placed 5th in the final of the women’s Javelin throw with her best throw measured at 56.02m. Dilhani’s best effort came in her third attempt with the first couple being recorded at 51.13m and 53.58m respectively. Lekamge who holds the national record in the event with a personal best of 58.41m which she achieved in Diyagama in January this year will be looking to improve on her performance in order to make a mark in the upcoming Asian Games. Australian Kathryn Mitchelle won Gold in the competition with a Area record and a Commonwealth Games record with distance of 68.92m while compatriot Kelsey-Lee Roberts won Silver ahead of Sunette Viljoen of South Africa.
Prasad closes in on PB
Long Jumper Prasad Wimalasiri closed in on his personal best and improved on his qualification distance despite being placed 7th in the final. Wimalasiri’s third Jump which was his best was measured at 7.89m which was .03m short of his personal best but was a slight improvement from 7.84 he recorded in the qualification. World Champion Luvo Manyonga won the Gold medal with a Commonwealth Games record jump of 8.41m. Henry Frayne of Australia won Silver while South African Ruswahl Samaai won Bronze.
 and ended their journey at the 21st Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast Australia.){kind=link}