Aruna, Kalinga and Hiruni in action on first day of Athletics 25th

After several sports have already come to a disappointing end, the athletics team will begin their competition tomorrow and it will be left to them to salvage some pride for Sri Lanka at the 18th Asian Games 2018 in Indonesia.

The athletics team was limited to just 12 following an official blunder, which deprived the entry of high jumper Ushan Thiwanka, Upamalika Rathnakumari and the 4x400m mix relay of participating.

The two quarter milers Aruna Darshana and Kalinga Kumarage will be the first athletes to get into action when they compete in the 400m heats at 9.40 a.m. SL time on 24th. Darshana, the Asian Junior Gold medalist, Asian Junior record holder and World Champion participant, will compete in his first senior international event at the Games. Darshana, who clocked a personal best of 45.79 seconds to win the Asian Junior Gold medal, has been unable to run a sub 46 seconds since then and will have to do much better to earn a podium finish in Jakarta.

Kumarage too clocked 46.08 seconds in April and appears in very good form in his pet event. Kumarage is an experienced campaigner in 400m races. Long Jumper and team leader Janaka Wimalasiri will be the center of attraction on the opening day of athletics, as Wimalasiri’s personal best of 8.14m, which he leaped earlier this month, is much better than the last Asian Games Gold medalist’s. It also ranks him third among eligible athletes to take part in the event from Asia, with only two Chinese jumpers ahead of him. Wimalasiri, who trains under Cuban Coach Luis Miranda, has been showing a great deal of potential in recent times. He also finished within the best 8 in the Commonwealth Games, while also registering a leap of 8.10m during the trials. He has the consistency to go for a medal.

The Gold medal at the last Asian Games was won by Chinese Li Jinzhe with a leap of 8.01m, so Janaka’s chances of winning a medal is high.

The other athlete who will be in action tomorrow is 10,000m runner Hiruni Wijayarathne, who will compete for the first time in a track event at an International event for Sri Lanka. Hiruni clocked 33 minutes 55.06 seconds in Portland to erase the 15-year-old Sri Lanka record set by Sujeewa Nilmini earlier this year to qualify for the Asian Games. Considering the weather in Indonesia and her performance in the 10,000m, Hiruni has given up her idea of running the marathon to focus exclusively on the 10,000m. The US based distance runner who arrived in Indonesia after a very long flight, will face stiff competition from Indian and Middle East runners. The M.E. countries have hired distance runners from Africa to compete in the 10,000m.

One of Sri Lanka’s top medal hopes is the men’s 4x400m relay team, who will be seen in action on the 29th and will have sufficient time to practice their baton changes, which has been a sore point.

Only the 4x400m relay team and Hiruni Wijayarathne arrived in Indonesia on 22nd and they had a training session yesterday, while the rest of the team arrived yesterday.

Athletics team for Asian Games: Prasad Wimalasiri (Long Jump), Aruna Darshana (400m, 4x400m,), Kalinga Kumarage (400m, 4x400m), Pasindu Kodikara (4x400m), Ajith Premakumara (4x400m), Dilip Ruwan (4x400m), Indunil Herath (800m), Nimali Liyanarachchi (800m), Gayanthika Abeyrathne (800m), Nilani Rathnayaka (3000m steeple chase), Rumeshika Rathnayaka (200m), Hiruni Wijayarathne (10,000m)