Athletics Nationals hampered by absence of electronic timing Manjula, Nilani, Sarangi shine despite gloom

By Reemus Fernando

Lack of interest of country's sports authorities and the athletic establishment to upgrade existing sports facilities was laid bare at the top competition of the country's premier Olympic sport as the 94th National Athletics Championships got off to a bizarre start without wind gauges and electronic timing at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium at Diyagama on Friday.
The crucial three-day competition, which is also the final qualifying opportunity for those aspiring to earn entry standards for the Rio Olympic Games, had to be conducted without electronic timing equipment as officials failed to fix a long-existing problem in the electronic system at Diyagama in time. It forced technical officials to rely on hand timing. Electronic timing had been used since early 1990s at National Championships according to technical officials and it is the first time in decades that the top meet is conducted without that facility.
The absence of wind gauges and electronic timing was the latest blow to track and field sport which has been already hindered by the deteriorating standards of the tracks at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium and the Sugathadasa Stadium.
There are two synthetic tracks in the country but both facilities had been relying on the electronic timing equipment now stationed at Diyagama. According to officials, there had been several requests to fix a problem in the system but they had fallen on deaf ears.
On a day of disappointments, Sri Lanka Air Force high jumper Manjula Kumara, Army's long jumper Sarangi Silva and steeplechase athlete Nilani Ratnayake produced probably the most impressive performances.
Manjula Kumara cleared a height of 2.24 metres before failing to clear the Olympic qualifying mark (2.29 m) in his all three attempts. Though his failure to qualify for his second Olympics in twelve years was a huge disappointment for his fans, his feat of 2.24 metres was probably the most impressive performance in the men's category.
In the men's discus throw Army's T. M. Aazik cleared 43.77 metres to win, while D. B. Rathnayake (Air Force - 42.88m) and G. T. Chathuranga (Lanka Lions - 41.03m) were placed second and third respectively.
Sprint events saw only the heats and semi-finals being conducted with their performances calculated by hand timing.
Army's Nilani Ratnayake came almost closer to beating her own national record when she clocked 10 minutes and 10.3 seconds to win the women's steeplechase. W. N. Kumari (10:50.3 secs.) of Navy and D. K. Kumari (11:11.3 secs.) of Army finished second and third.
Sarangi Silva twice cleared six metres before recording a winning distance of 6.04 metres in the women's long jump. The South Asian Games medallist was the only athlete to clear the six metres mark. H. T. Kumari (Air Force - 5.81m) and Anjani Puluwansa (Colombo District AA - 5.77m) were placed second and third.
In the 10,000 metres Air Force athlete Nilanthi Lanka Ariyadasa clocked 36:02.9 seconds to win ahead of Navy's Anusha Lamahewage (36:36.3 secs.). S. M. Wickramasuriya (Army – 38:13.7 secs.) finished third.
Women's Discus Throw was won by Air Force thrower A. A. Maduwanthi who cleared a distance of 40.10 metres. Kumari Weerasekara (Air Force - 39.72m) and M. D. Perera (Navy - 36.75m) were placed second and third respectively.