Sri Lanka won eight medals at the Special Olympics 2015 which was held at Los Angeles USA recently. The tally included four gold medals, two silver medals and two bronze medals in the disciplines of athletics and badminton.
There were seven participants from Athletics and Badminton for the Special Olympics 2015 from Sri Lanka. They competed in 15 events which included 14 athletic events and one single badminton event. The number of Sri Lankan participants this time around was less than the last Special Olympics which was held in the year of 2013 and is identified as a probable lack of funds..
Agbo Jayawardhana won 2 gold medals in the Men’s 200m Division 52 by clocking 42.76 seconds and in the Men’s 100m Division 62 by clocking 19.02 seconds. He also competed in men’s 100m Division 60 and men’s 200m Division 46 but he was unable to win in these events.
Dilki Fernando won her first gold medal for Sri Lanka in the event of Women’s 400m Division 08 with a time of 20.10 seconds. Apart from that she competed in two more events which were 200m Division 19 and 400m Division 10.
Preethika Gamage was placed second in the Women’s 1,500m Division 01 and won the silver medal. She also clinched the bronze medal in the of Women’s 800m Division 02.
The other Silver medalist for Sri Lanka is Manojan Jayachandran by clocking 24.48 seconds in the Men’s 100m Division 54.
Mayuran Arsakulasooriyan won the bronze medal when he ran in the men’s 100m Division 61 and he placed sixth in the men’s 200m Division 47.
The last bronze medal was won in the event of Badminton MCG9 event by Thilina Vitharana.
Meanwhile Surekha Gammaddage participated in the Women’s 100m Division 03 and was placed fifth and she missed the bronze medal in the event of Women’s Long Jump Division F10 by a few seconds.
Special Olympics is held every two years with the participation of over 6,500 participants from 165 countries to show the true meaning of courage, joy and determination in 25 different sports events.
The next Special Olympic 2017 will be held in Austria.
Medal winners for Sri Lanka
Agbo Jayawardana: Two gold medals (athletics)
Diliki Fernando: Gold medal (athletics)
Thilan Vitharana: Gold medal (Badminton)
Preethika Gamage: One silver one bronze (athletics)
Manojan Jayachandran: Silver medal (athletics)
Mayooran Arsakulasooriyan: Bronze medal (athletics)
