Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialised 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.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004.
Major Deshamanya Duncan M. White MBE, ED was a Sri Lankan sportsman. He was the first Ceylonese athlete to win an Olympic medal, winning silver in the 400-metre hurdles at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. He was also the second South Asian to have won an Olympic medal in track and field after Norman Pritchard of India, with the third being Susanthika Jayasinghe, another Sri Lankan, who won a silver medal in the 200 metres in 2000.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The nation won its first Olympic medal since 1948. Sri Lanka has sent their ever largest number of competitors (18) for an Olympic game in this event.
Sri Lanka competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Li Xuemei is a retired Chinese sprinter. She is the fastest Asian woman in history with a personal best time of 10.79 in the 100m and a 22.01 in the 200m, both ran during the National Games of China.
Sri Lanka competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008.The Sri Lankan olympic committee confirmed 4 males and three females have been selected to compete in 5 sports. Later Chinthana Vidanage received a tripartite commission invitation to participate in weightlifting. This now brings the total count to 8 athletes competing in 6 sports.
The Saint Kitts and Nevis National Olympic Committee sent four athletes to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. All four participated in the track and field competitions across four different events. Three women and one man comprised the Kittitian delegation. Williams and Ponteen did not advance past Qualifications in their events; Hodge reached quarterfinals in both the 100m and 200m sprints; and Collins, who participated in two events, reached the Semifinal round in the 100m sprint, and ranked sixth in the finals in the 200m sprint. Saint Kitts and Nevis did not win any medals during the Beijing Olympics. The flag bearer for the team at the opening ceremony was first-time Olympian Virgil Hodge.
At the 2006 South Asian Games, the athletics events were held at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 23 August to 27 August 2006. A total of 35 events were contested, of which 20 by male and 15 by female athletes.
Sri Lanka participated at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which was held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. The country's participation at London marked its sixteenth appearance in the Summer Olympics since its debut at the 1948 Summer Olympics, having missed only the 1976 Games. The delegation consisted of seven competitors: two athletics competitors, two badminton players one shooter and two short-distance swimmers. Cooray, Samarakoon and Karunaratne qualified for the Games by meeting their respective qualifying standards; the remainder of the team entered through wildcard or quota places. Karunarante was the flag bearer for the opening and closing ceremonies.
Kim Annette Robertson is a New Zealand former track and field sprinter. She represented New Zealand at three Commonwealth Games, one World Indoor Championship, three IAAF World Cups and three Pacific Conference Games. She was also selected in the 1980 Moscow Olympic team in the 400 meters but did not compete due to the NZ Government boycotting the event.
Christine Sonali Merrill, also simply known as Christine Merill, is a former Sri Lankan–American track and field athlete and mechanical engineer. During her career, she specialized in the 400m hurdles event and also occasionally competed in 100m, 200m, 100m hurdles, 4 × 100m relay and 4 × 400m relay events.
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 Lanka Army Volunteer Force and current national record holder in women's javelin throw event.
Dinesh Weerawansa is a Sri Lankan editor-in chief for the Sunday Observer. He returned as editor-in-chief of the Sunday Observer in December 2019 for his second term. He held the position previously for nine years from 2006 to 2015. At the Sunday Observer, he headed the editorial operation of Sri Lanka's oldest and largest circulated English newspaper - published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited. He had also functioned as chief editor of the Daily News (2018) and also as their associate editor and sports editor. He was a visiting lecturer at National Olympic Academy of Sri Lanka.
Georgina Hermitage, is a British former parasport athlete competing in T37 sprint events. In 2015, she qualified for the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, selected for the T37 100m and 200m. She took the gold in the 400m sprint, setting a new world record.
Matthew Duncan Abeysinghe, OLY is a competitive swimmer who has represented Sri Lanka at numerous international competitions, including the 2016 and 2020 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo respectively. Abeysinghe trained under his coach and father, Manoj Abeysinghe, with Killer Whale Aquatics, until his departure for higher education, where he resumed his training at Ohio State University in the US. Abeysinghe is regarded as the greatest swimmer and one of the most accomplished athletes Sri Lanka has ever produced.
Parami Wasanthi Maristela Kalumarakkalage also known as Parami Wasanthi Maristela is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete who competes in the 2000 metre steeplechase event. She is the first Sri Lankan to have won a Youth Olympic medal. She pursued her secondary education at Kuliyapitiya Central School.
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. 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. 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.
Kotambewaththe Gedara Dilshi Maheesha Shyamali Kumarasingha also simply known as K. G. D. M. S. Kumarasinghe or Dilshi Kumarasinghe aka Shyamali Kumarasinghe is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete and a national record holder in women's 800m. She is currently coached by Susantha Fernando.
Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Tharushi Dilsara Karunaratne is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 800 metres sprint. She won gold medal at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships held in Bangkok in the 400m women's event and also the broke the 25 year old Asian record in the event.
