Four Army Athletes Selected to Represent Asian Athletic Championship - 2017

A team of 4 young athletes of the Sri Lanka Army have been selected to represent Sri Lanka in the forthcoming 22nd Athletic Championship to be held in Bhubaneswar in India during July 6-9, 2017.

Selections have been done by the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL), taking the performances of Army athletes into consideration at the recently-concluded national selection trials at Diyagama.

2 Lieutenant R.P.B.I Dayarathne became 9th in the International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) at world ranking index by throwing 82.19 m in Javelin which was also the best in his career to-date. Private U.K.N Rathnayake established a new Sri Lankan record in her 3000 m steeplechase pet event, finishing in 10.03.94 minutes. Private H.D.V Lakshani meanwhile jumping 13.64 m in triple jump established a new Sri Lanka record in the women’s category. The fourth athlete, bound for India, Corporal H.M Dilip Ruwan clocked 46.46 seconds in his pet event, 400 m hurdles in men’s category.

The flagship Asian Athletic Championship is organized by the Asian Athletic Association every two years. The Asian Athletic Association, headquartered in Singapore is the continental governing body for the sport of athletics in Asia.