Manjula Kumara Wijesekera sets Sri Lanka record (© Dinesh Weerawansa)
Colombo, Sri Lanka.Twentyyearold soldier, Manjula Kumara Wijesekera set a new Sri Lanka record and qualified to compete at Athens Olympic Games at the 82nd Sri Lanka National Championships concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo here last evening.
Wijesekera cleared an impressive 2.27m to win the men's high jump. It not only bettered his own Sri Lanka mark of 2.25m, established during the Colombo Grand Prix last month, but also was ahead of Olympic 'B' qualification mark of 2.27m.
A soldier who is attached to the Electrical and Mechanical division of the Sri Lanka Army, Wijesekera would now become the fifth Sri Lankan athlete to qualify for the Olympics after Susanthika Jayasinghe (women's 100m), Damayanthi Darsha (women's 400m), Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando (men's 400m) and Anuruddha Indrajith Cooray (men's marathon).
Wijesekera said his aim now is to qualify for the finals. "I am happy that I could make it to Olympics. It was a lot of hard work and dedication. Many people helped me to come this long. I want to make it to the finals. I target 2.27m once again in the qualifying rounds of the Olympics," he said.
Wijesekera is probably the first ever Sri Lankan athlete to qualify for a field event in Olympic Games history. His coach Captain K.H. Keerthi Kumara said the lad has put a lot of effort to be there and should do even better at the Athens Games.
Nine women sprinters, including 2004 South Asian Games women's 100m gold medallist Jani Chathurangani Silva, Sujani Buddhika and Achala Dias, were disqualified from the women's 200m after they failed to report to starting point on time, despite several calls. The notable absentee in this event is Sydney Olympic medallist Jayasinghe, who is skipped the Nationals on medical advice.
However, South Asian Games' fastest woman Jani Chathurangani Silva won the women's 100m final, ahead of Sujani Buddhika.
The only other hopeful of an eleventh hour inclusion to the Sri Lanka Olympic contingent was sprinter Prasanna Amarasekera. He won the men's 200m final in 20.80 seconds, but was 0.05 seconds short of Olympic 'B' qualifying mark.
Former Asian Games gold medallist, Sugath Tillakaratne, returning to the track after a leg injury which kept him out of the Asian Grand Prix, won his men's 400m heat but only clocked a 46.09 seconds in winning the final. Tillakaratne's injury pushed Sri Lanka team to the second place in the recent Asian Grand Prix Series.
Three new records were established at the Sri Lanka National Championships. Of the three, there was one Sri Lanka national record on the opening day and both a new Championships record and a new national record on the third and final day.
The absence of top Sri Lanka athletes greatly contributed to keep the old records intact. The three Sri Lanka elite athletes down to compete in next month's Olympic Games in Athens - Susanthika Jayasinghe, Damayanthi Darsha and Rohan Pradeep Kumara Fernando, did not take part in the three-day nationals and produced medical certificates.
The winners of men's high jump and women's 400m - Manjula Kumara Wijesekera and Menaka Wckremasinghe respectively, were adjudged the best male and female athletes of the meet.
