Dilki Fernando, a versatitle athlete and put shot exponent who also succeeded in the 200 and 400 metres will be one of the Sri Lankans to follow at the upcoming Para Asian Games in China.
Dilki has been taking part in track and field meets at zonal, district and provincial level winning first second and third places on several occasions since 2002.
She has a doting mother in Vajira Ramani by her side as well as an organization called Synergy of Heart and Soul to ensure she is on the right track each time she steps onto it.
Switching from the shot put event Dilki took part in the 200 meters at the Special Olympics in 2007 in China and finished in third place to win the bronze medal and four years later she took part at the Special Olympics in 2011 at Athens in Greece to secure third place in the long jump.
In 2013 at the Asia Pacific Special Olympics in New Castle Australia, the strapping Dilki won first place in the 400 metres and proved it was no flash-in-the-pan when she went on to bag the gold medal in the same event at the Special Olympics in Los Angeles, USA in 2015.
What many don’t know is that Dilki also succeeded as a football player and took part in a Malaysian tournament in 2017 and went back to track and field at the 2019 Para Olympics in Australia.
Before leaving for the Asian Para Games, Dilki told the Sunday Observer she was confident of another medal to add to her list of laurels and achievements.
