Kumudu delivers personal best in T47 long jump

Kumudu Priyanka was not even closer to winning a medal but did well to deliver her personal best in the women’s T47 long jump at the Tokyo Paralympics on Friday.

The athlete trained by Olympian Harijan Rathnayake cleared 4.92 metres in her very first attempt to achieve her personal best. In the next two attempts her performances were recorded as 4.77m and 4.73 m respectively. In the final analysis her achievement was ranked ninth.

New Zealand’s Grimaldi Anna won the gold with a new Paralympics record mark of 5.76 metres, while Russian Paralympic Committee’s Moguchaia Aleksandra (5.67m) and Ecuador’s Rodriguez Kiara (5.63m) settled for silver and gold medals respectively.

In the T47 400 metres heats, Saman Subasinghe finished fourth in a time of 51.08 seconds but could not qualify for the final. Subasinghe from the Navy was looking forward to produce his personal best but could not advance to the final as the fourth and fifth placed athletes in the other heat produced faster times to book the final berth.

In the T47 400 metres final which will be held today, Morocco’s Sadni Ayoub is the favourite. Ayoub advanced to the final as the fastest from heats. He was the only athlete to produce a sub 48 seconds feat in the heats.

Archer Sampath Bandara meanwhile was eliminated by India’s Vivek Chikara in the Men’s Individual Recurve elimination round yesterday. Chikara won the contest 6-2.

In today’s competitions, country’s fourth thrower Palitha Bandara is scheduled to compete in the men’s F63 shot put event.

Sri Lanka’s contingent included four throwers. Of them three were javelin throwers. While Dinesh Priyantha Herath created history on Monday winning Sri Lanka’s first gold medal at Paralympics with a world record in F46 javelin throw, Dulan Kodithuwakku won a bronze in the F64 javelin throw.