Yupun continues smooth progress with season’s best

by Reemus Fernando

Sri Lanka 100 metres record holder Yupun Abeykoon may not have touched the magical sub ten seconds this season yet. But the fastest man in South Asia has indicated in each outing this season that he is all set to repeat his 2022 feat.

On Friday the Italy based sprinter was not among the first off the blocks but could cross the finish line first in a time of 10.16 seconds. That was after clocking a seasonal best of 10.15 seconds in the heats.

With no major legal (not wind assisted) performances in 2023 due to injury Abeykoon needs to accumulate as many points as possible during the next few weeks if he is to book his second consecutive Olympic berth.

Performance wise last Friday’s was Abeykoon’s best feat so far this season as it earned the 29-year-old 1155 points. He was yet to enter the ‘Road to Paris 24’ rankings dominated by sprint powerhouse, the US, when he participated at the Anhalt Athletics Championship.

Abeykoon’s latest performance places him as the tenth fastest sprinter in Asia this season. No Asian has clocked sub ten seconds this season. The Asian top list is dominated by Japan (five Japanese sprinters in top ten) and China. At world stage too only eight sprinters have clocked sub ten seconds this year.

Abeykoon needs to clock ten seconds or enter the top 52 in the ‘Road to Paris 24’ rankings if he is to qualify for Olympics.