Sri Lanka having financially rewarded its Olympians before the start of the Paris Games has been forced to settle for whatever happened as five of the six athletes could not proceed beyond the first round in their respective events while only one, 400 metres runner Aruna Darshana, entered the semi finals finishing fifth.
He was subsequently disqualified for lane infringement and ran to his full potential clocking another personal best of 44.75 seconds.
Rule 17.3.2 in the athletic Technical Rules, states that during any part of the race, an athlete running on a bend on the outer half of the track, or on any curved part of the diversion from the track shall not step or run on or inside the kerb or line marking the applicable border (the inside of the track, the outer half of the track, or any curved part of the diversion from the track).
Athletic officials from Sri Lanka had protested showing video of his foot very near the inner line claiming he had not stepped on the line.
However, the judges stated that there was no gap between his spike and the inner line of the lane thus disqualifying him.
His time of 44.75 seconds is behind Sugath Thilakaratne’s 44.63 and 44.61 second set by him in 1998. This timing would have had Darshana qualify directly for next year’s World Athletic Championship.
Tharushi Karunaratne the 800 metres runner is still young and has a bright future only if she realises per potential. With proper nutrition and training regularly with her thoughts in running faster she could continue to compete at international meets held in Asia according to athletic coaches.
Dilhani Lekamge was the last Sri Lankan to contest the Paris Games and did not have a good outing as she finished 16th in the Javelin throw qualification round with her best being a modest 53.66m. She failed to qualify and had only three attempts to prove herself on Wednesday (7).
Lekamge probably ended her Olympic journey at the Paris Games 2024.
The others who failed badly were swimmers Kyle Abeysinghe and Ganga Seneviratne along with badminton player Viren Nettasinghe.
