Sri Lanka continued its steady rise in regional athletics by adding two bronze medals to its tally at the Asian Youth Games 2025 in Bahrain, bringing the total to one gold and three bronze medals so far in the championship.
On Friday night, Shanuka Costa of Gateway College, Colombo, delivered a strong performance in the boys’ 400 metres, clocking 47.72 seconds to secure the bronze medal. In the field events, Chathura Dulanjana of Weera Parakrama Secondary School, Yatawatta (Matale), earned bronze in the javelin throw with a best effort of 62.51 metres.
Earlier in the championship, Lahiru Achintha, a 16-year-old student from St. Aloysius’ College, Rathnapura, made history by winning Sri Lanka’s first-ever gold medal at the Asian Youth Games. Competing in the boys’ 1500 metres final on Thursday night, Achintha clocked 3 minutes 57.42 seconds, finishing ahead of China’s Lihua Sha—the only other athlete to break the four-minute barrier.
This gold medal marks Sri Lanka’s first top podium finish across all three editions of the Asian Youth Games, previously held in 2009 and 2013.
Achintha, trained by Chamil Bothota, is already considered one of Sri Lanka’s most promising middle-distance prospects. He had earlier won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the Asian Under-18 Athletics Championship in Saudi Arabia, with a time of 3:57.90 seconds.
The 1500 metres also produced Sri Lanka’s first medal of the 2025 Games, as Nethmi Gimhani of St. Andrew’s College, Puttalam, claimed bronze in the girls’ final, finishing in 4 minutes 52.32 seconds.
So far, all of Sri Lanka’s medals at the Asian Youth Games 2025 have come from track and field events.