By Reemus Fernando
An impressive sub 46 seconds feat in the men’s 400 metres by sprinter Aruna Dharshana and a national record feat in the men’s triple jump by Shreshan Dhananjaya were among the highlights on day three of the Sri Lanka Army Athletics Championship at Diyagama on Friday.
Dharshana piped Pabasara Niku during the last few metres to clinch the title of the men’s 400 metres. He returned a time of 45.83 seconds. With his seasonal best performance Dharshana has now produced sub-46 seconds on at least four occasions. His first sub-46 feat was registered in 2018 when he won the gold medal at the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Gifu, Japan. In the corresponding women’s event, Nadeesha Ramanayake clocked 53.38 seconds to win in a new meet-record performance.
The day’s most outstanding performance came when Shreshan Dhananjaya established a new national record in the men’s triple jump as he performed the second furthest jump in Asia this year to win his pet event.
Dhananjaya cleared a distance of 16.72 metres to break his own national record by one centimetre. Chamal Kumarasiri too was outstanding as he cleared a distance of 16.57 metres to settle for second place. Dhananjaya’s feat of 16.72 metres is the second-longest triple jump so far in Asia this year. The 17.17 metres jump of India’s Praveen Chithravel is the longest jump of the year.
The day commenced with Nilani Ratnayake creating a meet record in the women’s 5,000 metres. She won the event in a time of 16:03.16 seconds. She was the only athlete to finish the event in under 17 minutes. In the women’s triple jump, Randi Cooray cleared 13.51 metres to establish a new meet record. She was the only athlete to clear the 13 metres barrier as E.M.S. Upeksha (12.82m) and K.A.A. Sewwandi (12.19m) settled for distances below 13 metres. Dilhani Lekamge cleared 55.98 metres to win the women’s javelin throw. Olympian Nadeeka Lakmali managed a distance of 49.76 metres to settle for silver.