Madushani finishes outside the best eight

by Reemus Fernando

Long jumper Madushani Herath suffered her first defeat in two years at her debut international competition, the Asian Youth Athletics Championships being held in Kuwait where she was considered one of the favourites to win a medal. The athlete from Nannapurawa MV, Bibila carried the country’s best hopes as she reached the Youth (U18) Asian event with a recent personal best of 6.09 metres, a distance no single female athlete in the entire junior category (U20) in Sri Lanka had ever cleared.

It was also the second-best performance by an athlete of her age in Asia this year. But hopes of winning a medal evaporated during her first three jumps as she failed to reach the best eight in a competition where the gold, silver and bronze went to feats of 6.06m, 5.91m and 5.81 m respectively. Herath’s best effort was a distance of 5.47 metres. It placed her in the ninth position.

“She was not in her usual rhythm during the entire competition. She is devastated that she could not live up to expectations. I am helping her to recover fast so that she can bounce back at the next local competition,” said M.G.K. Kumara in an interview with The Island. Kumara is in Kuwait as the team coach. It was Herath’s first defeat in more than two years as she had remained unbeaten in local competitions during the last two years.   Uzbekistan’s Sharifa Davronova who only had a seasonal best of 5.96 metres went on to produce the only jump of over six metres to win gold. India’s Mubssina Mohammed settled for silver, Hong Kong’s Wai Yin JIA won the bronze.

On day two, Sri Lanka team were banking on Thrustan College sprinter Salamuthu Jayathilaka and Sir John Kothalawala College, Kurunegala athlete Theminda Rajapaksa for their first medals. The duo produced the fastest times in the heats on day one to qualify for the boys’ 400 metres finals. The event was yet to be conducted when this edition went to press. Meanwhile, in the other events, Sethuli Adithya was scheduled to compete in the girls’ high jump in the evening yesterday.