Lanka Ariyadasa performed well at the Dhaka Marathon held in Bangladesh on last Sunday when she bagged the bronze medal to receive Rs.580, 000 cash award.
Ariyadasa was finished third with 2 hours 26.54 seconds timing to get bronze while her team mate S.N Nidharshani was placed 4th and received Rs. 435, 000 rupees cash award. The third Sri Lankan women’s athlete S.D Liyanage was placed 6th in this marathon.
Meanwhile Sri Lankan men’s marathoner N.S Karunaratne was placed 8th with a timing of 2.26.54 while T. Ratnapala was placed 10th and M. Sivarajan was fished 11th at this marathon.
Sri Lank Athletics (SLA) this time gave opportunities for long distance runners to get more international exposure while they participated in the Asian Marathon last month in Hong Kong followed by this Dhaka Marathon. The President of SLA Major General Palitha Fernando said this year our athletes are more focused on France Olympics and this level of International meets paved the way to improve local athletes’ Olympic qualification standards.
Dhammika Ratnaweera