Nannapurawa athlete Madushani dazzles with triple jump silver

by Reemus Fernando

Nannapura MV, Bibila athlete Madushani Herath won the women’s triple jump silver medal as she achieved her personal best at the Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Dubai on Wednesday.

The athlete trained by M.G.K. Kumara cleared a distance of 13.01 metres in her penultimate jump to settle for the silver medal behind Khushnoza Shavkatova of Uzbekistan who cleared the 13 metres mark thrice during the competition. The gold and silver medal winners were the only athletes to clear the 13 metres mark. Shavkatova cleared 13.33 metres in her third jump.

Herath had a wind asisted  13.01 metres (+2.7) performance when Sri Lanka Athletics conducted the selection trial early last month. On Wednesday, Herath’s other jumps were measured at 12.50m, 12.58m, 12.87m and 12.90m. Her final jump was ruled illegal.

The silver winning performance was a huge consolation for Herath who finished outside the best eight when she first competed for Sri Lanka at the Asian Youth Championship two years ago.

“Everything went well for Madushani. She could settle on to a nice rhythm and adjust fast to the helpful track conditions. I am happy for her achievement,” said Kumara in an interview with The Island from Dubai.

Herath is the second Sri Lankan athlete to win a medal in the women’s triple jump at an Asian Junior Athletics Championship. Vidusha Lakshani won the bronze (12.87) in this discipline at the 2014 edition.When this edition went to press Herath was set to compete in the long jump.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s mixed relay team produced the second fastest time in the heats behind India to qualify for the finals.They clocked 3:28.41 seconds, while the Indian quartet returned a time of 3:25.54 seconds.