• Says showing in Gumi left much to be desired

Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) Secretary Saman Kumara Gunawardena rejected allegations levelled at the sport’s local controlling body that Italy-based elite Lankan athlete Yupun Abeykoon has been allowed to behave like a prima donna of late.

This was in the wake of Sri Lanka’s dismal overall performance at the concluded 26th Asian Athletic Championship 2025 in Gumi, South Korea with the next edition to take place in Xiamen, China in 2027.

Abeykoon, the 30-year-old Birmingham Commonwealth Games bronze medallist was slated to compete in three meets at the championship held in Gumi over the weekend.

However, he had eventually returned without taking part in the Men’s 100m and 200m events and stopping midway in the Men’s 4x100m event, due to a baton exchange mishap.

This overall behaviour had materialised on the part of the sprinter, who had arrived in South Korea from his training base in Italy at a cost of Rs. 400,000.

This has led critics to allege that the country’s one-time premier sprinter has taken his position in the arena for granted and more or less continues to behave similar to that of a prima-donna.

The SLA Secretary said that though Abeykoon’s overall effort for the country at the concluded Asian Athletic Championship left much to be desired, he refused to buy into the argument that any special favours have been meted out to him at the expense of the rest.

He described the baton exchange mishap, which had stalled Abeykoon’s bid for a medal at the Men’s relay event, as being part and parcel of athletics and noted that the Italy-based sprinter could have performed better if he had arrived well in advance in Gumi.

He added that he had personally spoken to the Olympian, on the need to brush up his image and further improve his commitment to the country at international meets.

He also expressed confidence that the sprinter will take stock of his shortcomings and devote his energy to make the country proud at a few upcoming European meets.  

Analysing Sri Lanka’s overall display at the 26th Asian Athletic Championship Gunawardene attributed injuries to a few star athletes such as Aruna Darshana who normally competes in the 400m had scuttled Sri Lanka’s bid to increase its medal tally in South Korea.

He was also quick to point out that though Sri Lanka had fared much better at the previous championship, it would be unrealistic to expect the athletes to win bucket loads of medals as other nations were not going to stand still.

One of the lone bright sparks for the island nation came in the form Kalinga Kumarage who managed to win bronze in the Men’s 400m with a time of 45.55s.

This was also the country’s first such medal in the meet since 2007 when Prasanna Amarasekara won gold at the Asian Championship staged in Amman, Jordan.

Furthermore, Sri Lanka managed to secure bronze in both the 4x400m Mixed relay and Women’s 4x400m Relay events respectively.

The Mixed relay team consisted of Sadev Rajakaruna, Sayuri Mendis, Kalinga Kumarage and Nishendra Fernando while the Women’s 4x400m team was made up of Nadeesha Ramanayake, Sayuri Mendis, Jayeshi Uttara and Nishendra Fernando.

Among others that stood out for Sri Lanka were Rasara Wijesuriya who while ending in seventh place created a new Sri Lanka record in the Women’s 10000 m event with a timing of 33.21.62 minutes.

Meanwhile, Rumesh Tharanga competing in the Men’s Javelin throw event was placed fourth after covering a distance of 83.27m while his colleague Sumedha Ranasingha had to be content with seventh place with a distance of 79.81m.    

Sri Lanka which competed at the event held from 27-31 May, returned home yesterday (2) having clinched three bronze medals, while ending in 18th place; a far cry from their impressive showing at the previous edition held in Bangkok.

At the last event, Sri Lanka had won eight medals (three gold, two silver and three bronze) during the 2023 Bangkok Asian Athletic Championship finishing fourth in the overall medals tally.