Medhani qualifies for World Junior Championship

Young Sprinter Medhani Jayamanne qualified for the World Junior Championship clocking a personal best of 24.08 seconds in the 200m women’s final, in which she finished 2nd at the 60th Inter State Athletics Championship held in Patiala, India yesterday. Medhani, 19, from Lumbini College, was only given the opportunity to run in the 200m because she was part of the women’s relay team.

To top that, she had to rush back after running the anchor leg of the relay to run the 200m final, which had a gap of a mere 1 hour and 30 minutes. Competing in her first overseas competition, Medhani beat World Junior Gold medalist Hima Das, and it almost looked like she won the race, but the photo finish revealed P.D. Anjani had pipped her at the post and won the race in 24.01 seconds.

Trained under Umanga Surendra former SAG Gold medalist turned coach Medhani Jayamanne had an uphill struggle to get where she is. Despite being the niece of Olympic Silver medalist Susanthika Jayasinghe, she had little or no help from her in recent years. She lives in the Torrington Sports Hostel at the moment, since she is an orphan.

She is getting help from her school’s Old Pupils Association and kind hearted Sri Lankans, and was given accommodation by supporters realizing her potential at an early stage.