Juniors to make Sri Lanka’s mixed relay debut at World Junior Championships

by Reemus Fernando  

Promising junior sprinters Isuru Kaushalya and Tharushi Karunaratne are set to form Sri Lanka’s first mixed relay team with Lakshima Mendis and Dilshan Bandara and compete internationally after Sri Lanka Athletics included a team for next week’s World Junior Athletics Championship in Nairobi.

Sri Lanka are yet to compete in the newest addition to the athletics programme, the 4×400 metres mixed relay which made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.  The event sees teams of four athletes – two women and two men – competing against each other, with each athlete running once around the track before the next person on their team begins their run. The teams decide the order they prefer, with two men followed by two women, vice versa or even alternating male and female athletes.

Sri Lanka missed opportunities of competing in mixed relays internationally after the Asian Relays were cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The juniors will now take the opportunity while also trying for individual honours during the six-day meeting which starts on August 17.

Ananda Sastralaya, Matugama athlete Isuru Kaushalya and Ratnayake Central, Walala runner Tharushi Karunaratne are the leading 400 metres sprinters in the team. While Kaushalya reached qualifying standards for the men’s 400 metres event, Karunaratne who is still 16 is eligible for the women’s 800 metres. During the Junior Selection trial held last month, Karunaratne who had already qualified for the 800 metres, skipped the event to compete in the 400 metres and returned a time of 55.19 seconds to win.

Sri Lanka Athletics officials said that Holy Cross College, Gampaha sprinter Lakshima Mendis and Wekada MV, Chilaw athlete Dilshan Bandara would join Kaushalya and Karunaratne to form the mixed relay team.

At the selection trial, Bandara was the runner up to Isuru Kaushalya as he clocked 47.55 seconds to finish behind Kaushalya (46.90 secs) in the 400 metres. Sir John Kothalawala College, Kurunegala sprinter Sithum Jayasundara who finished third in a time of 47.86 seconds is the reserve in the team.

With sprinter Medhani Jayamanne and 800 metres runner Shanika Lakshani being the other athletes in the Sri Lankan contingent, Sri Lanka Athletics has not selected a specialist female 400 metres sprinter as a reserve for the mixed relay team.

The mixed relays first caught the attention of global fans at the Doha 2019 Athletics World Championships where three Asian teams featured in the heats. Bahrain and India reached the final with the former inclusive of now banned sprinter Salwa Eid Naser winning the bronze.