USA based Sri Lankan athlete Ushan Thiwanka set up a new Sri Lanka high jump record with a performance of 2.28m at the Texas Relays Athletic Championships yesterday.
The 23-year-old athlete, who is presently training and following his higher studies in Texas, was able to erase the long standing record of 2.27m set by Manjula Kumara Wijesekera which was set up in 2004 and equalled in 2005.
Thiwanka's achievement is also rated as the third best performance at world outdoor competitions this year.
The former schoolboy of Maris Stella College, who left the country on a scholarship last year to Texas A and M University-Commerce, also achieved Sri Lanka’s Elite National Pool qualification mark of 2.22m, which qualifies him to be included in the Elite National Pool as well as in the top high-performance pool of the Sports Ministry.
Earlier, Thiwanka was able to set up a new Sri Lanka indoor high jump record of 2.26m. Thiwanka started his athletics career at Karunaratne Buddhist School at Ragama and was able to develop his skills at Maris Stella College under the guidance of his coach Sanarath Fernando.
Thiwanka of course, had a difficult childhood while growing up as both his parents suffered from polio.
However, that did not stop him from achieving great heights in his life, and he is now a step closer to his Olympic dream.
