The last Sri Lankan track and field athletes to compete at the Asian Games, the Men’s 4X400m relay team kept Sri Lankan dreams of an Asian Games medal hopes alive, managing to qualify for the final of the event.
The Sri Lankan quartet of Aruna Darshana, Ajith Premakumara, Pasindu Kodikara, and Kalinga Kumarage who competed in the second heat were placed third in their heat and gained automatic qualification to the final. Team Sri Lanka clocked 3:06.66 in the heat and recorded the 5th best overall time behind Qatar, Japan, Bahrain and India in the heat.
The Men’s 4X400m relay will carry the entire nation’s hopes for the first medal at the 18th Asian Games with most of the 175-strong contingent having bowed out of the competition without any silverware. The quartet is looking to end a 12-year long medal drought for athletics at the Asian Games with the last triumph coming in the 2006 edition which was held in Doha where Susanthika Jayasinghe won two medals (100m Silver & 200m Bronze) while the Men’s 4X400m relay team comprising of Rohan Pradeep, Rohitha Pushpakumara, Prasanna Amarasekara and Ashoka Jayasundara won Bronze. Since then Sri Lanka has been medal less in athletics at the two preceding editions.
Sri Lanka possess two sub 46 runners in their ranks in Aruna Darshana and Kalinga Kumarage. Aruna clocked his personal best time of 45.79 at the Asian Junior Championship to be crowned the Asian Junior champ in the 400m while Kalinga reached his personal best of 45.99 during the first round of the Men’s 400m event couple of days earlier but ended up in the 7th place in the final of the event and was not able to achieve or better his personal best. Ajith Premakumara and Pasindu Kodikara who are both sub 47sec athletes having clocked 46.66secs and 46.65secs respectively at the National Athletic Championship which was held at the beginning of this month.
Aruna Darshana is entrusted with running the first lap of the race while experienced Ajith Premakumara takes charge in the second lap. Pasindu Kodikara has been handed the responsibility of the all-important 3rd lap before the experienced speedster Kalinga Kumara will look to run the race of his life in order to make sure that Sri Lanka returns from Indonesia with a medal to their name.
Men’s 4X400m final will be held tomorrow, 30th August at 07.10pm Sri Lankan time. Visit https://www.thepapare.com/athletics/ to be up to speed on Sri Lanka’s push for a medal in the Men’s 4X400m final.
