With the athletic season shifting to the off season, Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) is very content with the results achieved the past year.
They have now drawn up the competition Calendar for 2024 with the hope of achieving more medals by the athletes should they follow this new calendar competitively.
Sri Lankan athletes had the opportunity of winning a gold medal and other medals at the Asian Games, thus by far the best since 2017. Achievements at the Asian Athletic Championship were a highlight this year with four medals won.
The junior athletes too had won eight medals at an international Junior Athletic Championship that gave hope for the seniors to win more medals.
“All these achievements were possible because of the training put up by the athletes and the guidance by the coaches. There were also others who contributed towards this success with physiotherapists and trainers making their contributions towards this success,” said retired Maj. Gen Palitha Fernando president of SLA.
Sri Lanka had also won two medals at the Commonwealth Games mainly due to the hard work done by Nethmi Ahinsa a teenage girl wrestler and Yupun Abeykoon the fastest athlete in South Asia.
“We had problems with finances as Sri Lanka were going through hard times with the financial crisis. But we were lucky with Damro coming in to help the athletes,” said Fernando.
With the Olympic Games coming up next year no athlete from Sri Lanka has qualified so far. Hopefully Yupun Abeykoon will emerge after recovery from his injury and qualify for the Paris Olympics next year.
However, there is a possibility for athletes in the 400m and the 4x400m relay teams to qualify by taking part in the meet to be held in the Bahamas coming up in May next year. This is the best time for the relay team, especially the mixed relay team, to qualify according to Fernando.
Even the junior athletes must train hard enough to qualify for the world junior meets by participating in the athletic calendar drawn up for next year.
The new competition calendar begins with the national race walking championship on February 18 in Colombo.
The senior and junior final selection trails to compete in the Asian U-20 championship will be held on March 1 to 3.
The second selection trail for selected events will be held on May 11 and 12 at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
The 102nd National Championships will be held from June 21 to 23 at the Sugathadasa Stadium and this is also a good opportunity for Sri Lankan athletes to improve on their timings.
There are also 25 international meets to be held next year and the most important one is the Olympic Games to be held from August 1 to 11 in Paris, France.
