- Tharanga sole saving grace for island nation
Despite having sent its biggest ever sporting contingent (238 in total) to the 20th Asian Games in Japan (Aichi-Nagoya 2026) which concluded last Sunday (4), Sri Lanka could only occupy the 28th spot in the medal table.
This time around, Sri Lanka were forced to settle for a solitary Gold medal courtesy of Rumesh Tharanga (men’s javelin throw), Silver in the women’s T20I team event, and Bronze in the men’s T20I.
It was also the first time since 2014 that Sri Lanka was able to clinch a medal in the men’s cricket competition, having won Gold at the Incheon Asian Games.
Sri Lanka’s total contingent to Japan was comprised of 156 athletes (100 men and 56 women), besides 82 officials consisting of coaches, managers, medical personnel, and National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) staff.
Sri Lanka competed in 25 sports at the recently concluded Asian Games, with the breakdown of athletes for each sport as follows: athletics (24), cricket (30 – 15 men and 15 women), hockey (18), rugby sevens (13), kabaddi (12 women), basketball (8), boxing (7), and wrestling (5).
Athletes had also been fielded for beach volleyball (4), judo (4), badminton (3), weightlifting (3), squash (3), and golf (3), in addition to archery, gymnastics, sailing, swimming, table tennis, etc.
Sri Lanka finished 26th out of 45 countries at the previous edition of the Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China with an overall medal tally of five – one Gold, two Silver, and two Bronze – which was, in fact, their best return since the Busan 2002 games.
The island nation’s finest showing in terms of winning Gold at the Asian Games was in the Bangkok 1998 games when it won three Gold and three Bronze medals, with Gold coming from the likes of Sugath Thilakaratne (400 m) and Damayanthi Darsha (200 m and 400 m).
Sri Lanka won six Bronze medals at the Bangkok edition of the games held in 1966. They won another six medals at the 2002 event in Busan, where they clinched two Gold, one Silver, and three Bronze, with Gold coming from Susanthika Jayasinghe (100 m) and Darsha (400 m).
However, since those halcyon days in the track-and-field circuit and leading into this year’s games, Sri Lanka have been hurtling towards mediocrity, and barring the stunning exploits of javelin ace Tharanga, they would have had to head home in shame.
In the entire history of the Asian Games, Sri Lanka has so far been able to win gold only via the disciplines of athletics and cricket, while silver and bronze success has arrived through athletics, cricket, golf, boxing, tennis, windsurfing, cycling, and karate.
Tharanga also became the first Sri Lankan in 68 years to win a medal in a field event at the Asian Games since the exploits of the late Dr. Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, who clinched Gold in the high jump event in Tokyo in 1958.
It was also fitting that the javelin sensation returned to the same country to emulate the deeds of his legendary compatriot.
It is learnt that the Sports Ministry had reportedly incurred a sum in excess of Rs. 100 million for the total contingent exceeding 200 individuals, with critics questioning whether the pilgrimage to Aichi-Nagoya 2026 served the purpose as far as performance on the field is concerned.