Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres. She won the Olympic silver medal for the 200m event in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, the second Sri Lankan to win an Olympic medal after Duncan White and the first Asian woman to win an Olympic or World Championship medal in a sprint event. She is also the only Asian athlete to have claimed an Olympic medal in sprint events. She is also the first and only Sri Lankan to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships. Her silver medal achievement at the 2000 Sydney Olympics also stood as the only Olympic medal for a South Asian in athletics event for 21 years before Neeraj Chopra's gold medal achievement at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is fondly nicknamed as the Asian Black Mare. She has represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1996, 2000 and 2008. She is considered one of the most decorated sprinters in Sri Lanka. However, she is also a deemed as a controversial figure in Sri Lanka.
The 2006 South Asian Games were held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 18 August to 28 August 2006, in the Sugathadasa Stadium with more than 2000 sportspersons competing in the record 20 disciplines of Sports.
The Athletics at the 2006 Lusophone Games were held in the Macau Stadium on October 11 and 12. Brazil was the dominating delegation taking 19 out of 30 gold medals, while Sri Lanka managed to grab all three of gold medals it won in the Games in this sport. A total of 31 events were held, comprising 15 corresponding events for men and women, plus the men's 3000 metres steeplechase.
Kobala Vithanage Damayanthi Dharsha-Kobalavithanage is a retired Sri Lankan athlete who competed in the 200 and 400 metres race events. She is the current Asian Games record holder in women's 200m event and current Asian Athletics Championships record holder in women's 400m event as well as national record holder in women's 400m. She is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes to have represented Sri Lanka at international level alongside her teammate Susanthika Jayasinghe. She is also regarded as the most successful Sri Lankan athlete at the Asian Games with a medal haul of four medals including three gold medals and became the first Sri Lankan female athlete to clinch three Asian Games gold medals. She represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1992, 2000 and 2004. She also represented Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games on four occasions in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 as well as at the South Asian Games on four occasions.
Jani Chathurangani Chandra Silva Hondamuni is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete who competes mainly in sprinting.
The athletics competition at the 2010 Commonwealth Games was held in New Delhi, India between 6 and 14 October. The track and field events took place between 6–12 October at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium while the marathon contests were held on a street course running through the city on 14 October.
In 2010 there was no obvious, primary athletics championship, as neither the Summer Olympics nor the World Championships in Athletics occurred in the year. The foremost championships to be held in 2010 included: the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, 2010 European Athletics Championships, 2010 African Championships in Athletics, and Athletics at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
At the 2004 South Asian Games, the athletics events were held at the Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad, Pakistan from 2 April to 6 April 2004. A total of 32 events were contested, of which 19 by male and 13 by female athletes. A total of six Games records were set over the course of the five-day competition.
Pinki Pramanik is an Indian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres and 800 metres. Pramanik had success with the national 4×400 metres relay team, winning silver at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, gold at the 2006 Asian Games, and gold at the 2005 Asian Indoor Games. She won three gold medals at the 2006 South Asian Games, winning the 400 and 800 m events, as well as the relay.
At the 2005 West Asian Games, the athletics events were held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Contested over three days, from 7 to 9 December, it was the first time that women were allowed to compete in athletics events at the Games. A total of 28 events were contested, of which 23 by male and 5 by female athletes. The event was seen as a test event for the Athletics at the 2006 Asian Games, which Doha hosted the following year.
Wassana Winatho, also known as Amornrat Winatho and Vassanee Vinatho, is a Thai track and field athlete who specialises in the heptathlon and the 400 metres hurdles. She represented Thailand at the 2008 Summer Olympics and competed at five consecutive editions of the Asian Games.
The 19th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Kobe, Japan between July 7–10, 2011 at the Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium. The tournament had 507 athletes from forty Asian nations competing in the 42 track and field events over the four-day competition.
Nadeeka Lakmali Bambarenda Liyanage is a Sri Lankan javelin thrower. She is regarded one of the finest javelin throwers in Sri Lanka with global fame. She is also attached with the Sri Lankan Army and current national record holder in women's javelin throw event.
The 2013 Asian Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the biennial athletics competition between Asian nations. It was held at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, India between 3–7 July. Around 522 athletes from 42 nations competed at the event. It was the first time since 1989 that India had hosted the championships.
The 2014 Asian Junior Athletics Championships was the 16th edition of the international athletics competition for Asian under-20 athletes, organised by the Asian Athletics Association and the Chinese Taipei Track & Field Association. Events were held at Taipei Municipal Stadium in Taipei, Republic of China from 12–15 June. A total of 44 events were contested, with the events being evenly split between the sexes.
Dinesh Weerawansa has once again returned as editor-in-chief of the Sunday Observer from December 2019 for his second term. He held the same position for nine years from 2006 to 2015, heading the editorial operation of Sri Lanka's oldest English newspaper which has the largest circulation - published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. He had also functioned as chief editor of Daily News (2018) and also associate editor and sports editor of the Daily News and a visiting lecturer at National Olympic Academy of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventeenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, with the exception of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Six of the nation's Olympic editions were previously designated as Ceylon.
Sri Lanka took part in the 2018 Asian Para Games which was held in Jakarta from 6 to 13 October 2018, sent a delegation consisting of 30 para-athletes in 9 different sporting events. The 2016 Rio Paralympic medalist Dinesh Priyantha Herath was the skipper and the flagbearer for the contingent. Sri Lanka secured 5 medals on the opening day of the Asian Para Games.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's eighteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, with the exception of the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Seven of the nation's previous Olympic appearances were under the name Ceylon.
Abeykoon Mudiyansalage Yupun Priyadarshana, known as Yupun Abeykoon, also referred to as Yupun Priyadarshana is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete and a national record holder in men's 100m, men's 200m and in men's indoor 60m. He currently resides in Italy as he went on a scholarship to Italy in 2015. He is also attached to the Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army and represents Army Sports Club. He is currently regarded as the fastest Sri Lankan man as well as fastest South Asian man in men's 100m and 200m disciplines. On 3 July 2022, he became the first South Asian to break the 10-Second barrier for the men's 100 meters event at the Resisprint International competition, with a timing of 9.96 seconds, in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
