Sri Lankan Para athlete Palitha Bandara threw a distance of 14.27 metres, his personal best, to win the Shot Putt bronze medal at the World Para Athletic championship in Kobe, Japan yesterday.
Army man Bandara won the Discus Throw bronze medal at the last Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England and is now in a firm position to aim for a Shot Putt medal at the next Paralympic Games in Paris this year.
National Paralympic Committee (NPC) president Colonel Deepal Herath said Bandara’s improving on his previous personal best of 14.15m can make him look forward to bigger things.
“This is my first medal at a world Para meet and it came before the Paralympics. I am close to my dream to take part in the Paralympics”, Bandara told the Sunday Observer from Kobe, Japan having won the medal in very cold conditions.
According to NPC president Colonel Deepal Herath it marked the first time several medals were won by Sri Lankans at a world Para athletic championship with Indika Gamage (100m Silver), Samitha Dulan (Silver, Javelin Throw) and Palitha Bandara among the winners.
Sri Lankan Paralympic gold medalist Dinesh Priyantha Herath who was second in the F-46 Javelin Throw was disqualified and according to medical scientists who conducted a reclassification he (Herath) no longer qualifies for Paralympic sports as he is not eligible for any of the disability categories following an investigation carried out yesterday.
Colonel Deepal Herath said the Sri Lanka Para athletic team will return home today at 10 pm while the NPC and Sports Ministry have organised a simple ceremony to welcome the athletes including medal winners Indika Gamage, Samitha Dulan and Palitha Bandara
