• Tharushi face unfortunate end at 800m finals

Sri Lanka star athletes Yupun Abeykoon, Nadeesha Ramanayake, Tharushi Karunarathna and Gayanthika Abeyratne were Lankan participants at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix 2024 held at Dubai Police Grounds during the weekend.

Nadeesha Ramanayake finished second clocking (53.82 seconds) in the 400m Women's Finals. Yupun Abeykoon placed 3rd in 100m Finals A with a timing of (10.18 seconds). In the 800m Women's Finals in an unfortunate turn of events, Tharushi Karunaratne Lanka’s golden girl could not finish the race and Gayanthika Abeyratne had to be satisfied with a 5th place finish. According to sources from Dubai, Tharushi was not injured. She was on song until the last gasp running neck to neck with the eventual winner Nelly Jepkosgei of Bahrain. It was also commendable to note that scores of Lankan expat supporters flocked to the Dubai venue to support and cheer the Sri Lankan athletes.