I had a good chance to set up a record at 800m but I couldn't do it as expected said Sri Lankan promising middle distance athlete Tharushi Karunaratne in an exclusive interview with Daily News yesterday.
Tharushi Karunaratne finished 800m with a gold medal clocking 2 minutes 05.64 seconds. Actually at the 800m event I got a good start and I got lead and my opponent athletes were unable to make good fight with me and finally I was placed first with a clear lead. If they gave a better fight with me I had good chance to set up new record at this 800m added Tharushi Karunaratne a product of Walala A Ratnayake MMV.
Especially my coach Susantha Fernando gave me encouragement to get success. He was the manager cum coach and that was additional benefit to me. Winning gold medals in 800m, 400x 4 m relay and silver medal from 400 m gave me big boost for the Asian Athletic championship to be held in Bangkok in next month and my task is to get a medal at that meet added Tharushi who was the most successful athlete of this Asian Junior ( under 20) meet concluded in South Korea last Wednesday.
I had to face lot of difficulties before this South Korea tour. Before this I was admitted to Menikhinna Hospital and doctors diagnosed I had Pneumonia and I was out from the track for more than one month. Anyway after my illness I ended up with three medals at this meet and that was a great achievement said Tharushi Karunaratne.
My coaches Swarna Palitha at Walala Central, Susantha Fernando and Principal Dhammika Herath and staff gave me good support and my parents and brother always backed me. I trained at Digana grounds on the grass track. When we come to run at high standard synthetic track like South Korea it is easy to develop our skills as international exposure is more vital. At 800m my senior athlete Gayanthika Abeyratne and myself have a good fight and recently I was able to beat her. Both of us get chance to compete at Asian Games in China next September and said Tharushi.
We have to do hard work at training. We have our own schedule which is observed by my coach Susantha Fernando and he is like my father .Our college is a Sports School in Kandy and that is also an advantage to us. Sri Lanka Athletics headed by Major General Palitha Fernando as well Sports Ministry give big support to us and our aim is to go forward.
Actually we had very limited period to adjust to the conditions in South Korea. We reached Korea on June 1 and 2 and we had training sessions and following day I got rest and came to the 400m event straight and won the silver medal. My mixed relay team got gold and I did last lap and got clear lead to win gold and that was good team commitment said Tharushi Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka junior Athletic team took two golds ( women's 800m and mixed relay 4x 400 ) 1 silver ( 400m) and 2 bronze medals from Triple Jump and 400m and they finished seventh from 45 countries. The team returned home yesterday night. Sri Lanka Athletic senior officials ,Sport Ministry officials and parents graced the welcome ceremony at Katunayake Airport.
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