Sri Lanka may compete at World Relays for the first time in 2024

by Reemus Fernando

Buoyed by the medal winning performances of relay teams at the recently held Asian events Sri Lanka Athletics is looking forward to fielding relay teams at the World Relays 2024 which will be held in Bahamas in May.

The top-notch global relay event will also be the final opportunity for teams to earn automatic selection to Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Sri Lanka teams are in the top 25 world rankings in at least three relays with the country’s men’s 4×400 metres relay team ranked in the 15th position.

Sri Lanka Athletics has not sent a team to a World Relay event since its inception in 2014.

“Since our teams are ranked among the top teams in the world, we are planning to field them for the World Relays 2024. That will be the first time we field teams for the World Relays,” Saman Kumara Gunawardena, the secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics told The Island yesterday.

“We could not field teams for the last edition due to financial difficulties. But things are going to be different as we have attracted the interest of the public after doing well at Asian events,” said Gunawardena in reply to The Island queries.

“It will be expensive to field teams as the event is held in the Bahamas but we are confident of attracting support,” he said.

The men’s 4×400 metres relay team is ranked 15th in the world.

Sri Lanka men’s 4×400 metres relay team anchored by Kalinga Kumarage established a new national record and a championship record in winning the gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championship in July. The team inclusive of Aruna Dharshana, Rajitha Rajakaruna and Pabasara Niku beat the strong Indian quartet to the second place at the event held in Bangkok. Their winning time of 3:01.56 is the 15th fastest time by a national team in the world this year.

They could not repeat the same performance at the last week’s Asian Games but to their credit secured the bronze medal behind India and Qatar. The team had Dinuka Deshan and Pasindu Kodikara competing in the heats.

In the Mixed Relay the team met with disappointment after they were disqualified for a lane infringement after finishing second in a time of 3:14.25 seconds. The team consisting of Kalinga Kumarage, Aruna Dharshana, Nadesha Ramanayake and Tharushi Karunaratne won the silver medal at the Asian Athletics Championship in July. The silver winning time of 3:15.41 seconds has placed them in the 25th position in the world this year.

The women’s 4×400 metres team of Karunaratne, Ramanayake, Jayeshi Uththara and Lakshima Mendis won the bronze medal at the Asian Games with a national record time of 3:30.88 seconds which places them in the 24th position in the world this year.