Damayanthi Dharsha

Last updated
Deshabandu
Damayanthi Dharsha
Personal information
Native nameදමයන්ති දර්ශා
Full nameDamayanthi Dharsha-Kobalavithanage
Nationality Sri Lankan
Born (1975-02-13) February 13, 1975 (age 49)
Panadura, Sri Lanka
Sport
CountrySri Lanka
Sport Track and field
Event Sprint
Retired2007
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) 200 m : 22.48 [1] (Bangkok 1998)
400 m : 51.05 (Jakarta 2000)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
Event1st2nd3rd
Asian Games 301
Asian Championships 410
Total711
Event1st2nd3rd
200 m 311
400 m 400
Asian Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1998 Fukuoka 400 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1998 Bangkok 200 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Busan 400 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1994 Hiroshima 200 m
Asian Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1998 Bangkok 400 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Jakarta 200 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Jakarta 400 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2000 Jakarta 4×100 m
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2005 Busan 200 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1993 Manila 200 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2002 Colombo 4×400 m
Updated on 10 November 2015

Deshabandu Kobala Vithanage Damayanthi Dharsha-Kobalavithanage (born 13 February 1975) is a retired Sri Lankan athlete who competed in the 200 and 400 metres race events. [2] [3] 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. [4] [5] 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. [6] She represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1992, 2000 and 2004. [7] 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.

Contents

She now has migrated and lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Biography

Dharsha was born on 13 February 1975 in Panadura. However, she along with her family moved to her father's hometown in Ampara at her young age. [8] She pursued her primary education at the Ampara Bandaranaike Maha Vidyalaya for a brief period of time. She along with her family returned to Panadura mainly due to the threat of LTTE which emerged in 1983 and she initially attended St. John's College for one year before transferring to Panadura Balika Maha Vidyalaya. She started competing in track and field events since the age of 13 in 1988 after joining the Panadura Balika Maha Vidyalaya. She was coached by former Sri Lankan Olympian Sunil Gunawardene. She also obtained scholarship to join the Ladies' College, Colombo in 1991 due to her success in athletics at the school level competitions. She married Eranda Siriwardane in 2003 and has three children. [9]

Career

She gained her first international experience at the 1991 Malaysian Open. She made an initial impact at just 16 years when she won the 100 metres gold medal at the 1991 South Asian Games in Colombo with a new record. She broke into the limelight by winning the 100 metre gold at the Asian Junior Championships in the same year. She also eventually won the national titles in both women's 100m and 200m events at the 1991 National Athletics Championships.

She was chosen to represent Sri Lanka as a first-choice athlete at the 1992 Summer Olympics at the age of 17 and became the youngest Sri Lankan to compete at the Olympics. [10] She also became the first Sri Lankan schoolgirl to participate in the Olympics. [8] The 1992 Barcelona Olympics also marked her maiden Olympic appearance and she competed in the women's 100m and 200m events. Following the 1992 Olympics, she participated in an invitational athletics meet in Malaysia and secured gold medals in 100m and 200m events in the competition. In the same year, she received the Duncan White Trophy.

In 1993, she attended a special training session in Australia. She claimed her first international medal during the 1993 Asian Athletics Championships securing a silver medal in the 200m event with a timing of 23.29 seconds. She claimed gold medal in the 100m event at the 1994 Asian Junior Athletics Championships and set a new Asian Junior Championships record in the women's 100m event with a timing of 11.42 seconds. During the same Asian Junior Championships, she claimed silver medal in the women's 200m event and finished just behind Susanthika Jayasinghe.

She won the bronze medal in the 200 metres behind Chinese Taipei's Wang Huei-Chen and teammate Susanthika Jayasinghe at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. [11] That was the beginning of a dominant period for Sri Lanka in women's sprinting with Jayasinghe and Darsha seriously challenging the Chinese. [12]

She had a remarkable run in 1998 claiming three gold medals at the Asian regional competitions. She claimed her first gold medal in her career in the women's 400m event at the 1998 Asian Athletics Championships and followed it up with gold medals in women's 200m and 400m events at the 1998 Asian Games. [13] At the 1998 Asian Games, she also set Asian Games record in women's 200m with a new record of 22.48 seconds. [14] [15] [16]

She made her second appearance at the Olympics in her athletic career in 2000 after failing to qualify for the 1996 Olympics. She was also the flag bearer for Sri Lanka during the opening ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics at the age of 25. She also held the record for being the youngest ever Sri Lankan flag bearer at the Olympics until it was surpassed by Milka Gehani at the 2020 Summer Olympics. [17] She defended her 400m title at the 2000 Asian Athletics Championships with a new Asian Championship record of 51.05 seconds and also claimed gold medal in the 200m event during the Asian Championships in the same year. She also successfully defended her 400m gold medal at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan. She claimed bronze medal in the women's 4 × 400 m relay at the 2002 Asian Athletics Championships. In addition, she also joined the MAS Holdings in 2003 as a senior HR executive.

She made her third and final Olympic appearance at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her last international appearance for Sri Lanka came during the 2006 Commonwealth Games. In July 2007, Dharsha announced her retirement from athletics. [18]

She represented Sri Lanka along with former veteran cricketer Mahela Jayawardene in a ten-team celebrity street cricket game during the opening ceremony of the 2019 Cricket World Cup. [19] [20]

In 2021, she contested in the elections for the post of Vice President of Sri Lanka Athletics Association and was elected as the Vice President of Sri Lanka Athletics Association. [21] She also became the first female Vice President of SLA and was appointed as the head of the women's sub committee of Technical Officials and Media. [22] [23]

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing Flag of Sri Lanka.svg  Sri Lanka
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 38th (h)100 m 11.88
29th (qf)200 m 23.89
1993 Asian Championships Manila, Philippines 2nd200 m23.29
1994 Asian Games Hiroshima, Japan 3rd200 m23.61
1995 World Championships Edmonton, Canada 38th (h)100 m 11.65
28th (qf)200 m 23.45
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 22nd (qf)400 m 53.49
1998 Asian Championships Fukuoka, Japan 1st400 m51.23
Commonwealth Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4th400 m 51.06
Asian Games Bangkok, Thailand 1st200 m 22.48
1st400 m 51.57
6th4 × 400 m relay 3:40.05
1999 World Championships Seville, Spain 37th (h)200 m 23.57
31st (qf)200 m 53.33
2000 Asian Championships Jakarta, Indonesia 1st200 m 22.84
1st400 m 51.05
Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 23rd (qf)400 m 52.35
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 12th (sf)200 m 24.00
–400 m DNF
World Championships Edmonton, Canada 10th (sf)200 m 22.88
19th (sf)400 m 51.83
8th (h)4 × 100 m relay 43.89
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 14th (sf)200 m 24.18
22nd (sf)400 m 53.91
6th (f)4 × 100 m relay 44.25
Asian Championships Colombo, Sri Lanka 3rd4 × 400 m relay 3:42.71
Asian Games Busan, South Korea 1st400 m 51.13
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 24th (h)400 m 54.61
Asian Championships Manila, Philippines 3rd (h)200 m 24.13 [24]
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 38th (h)400 m 54.58
2005 Asian Championships Incheon, South Korea 1st200 m 23.21
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 16th (sf)200 m 24.22

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susanthika Jayasinghe</span> Sri Lankan sprinter

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka at the 2004 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Sri Lanka competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duncan White</span> Ceylonese athlete

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka at the 2000 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka at the 1992 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2006 Lusofonia Games</span> International athletics championship event

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka at the 2008 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2006 South Asian Games</span> International athletics championship event

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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine Sonali Merrill</span> Sri Lankan–American athlete (born 1987)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Abeysinghe</span> Sri Lankan swimmer (born 1996)

Matthew Duncan Abeysinghe 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.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anastasia Gorbenko</span> Israeli swimmer (born 2003)

Anastasia "Nastiya" Gorbenko is an Israeli competitive swimmer. She competes in the backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, and medley. She has won 8 World and European championships gold medals, competed at 2 Olympic finals, broken most of the Israeli national records for women and mixed relays, and is considered to be Israel's greatest swimmer of all time. In February 2024, Gorbenko won a silver medal at the Doha World Championships in the women's 400 meters individual medley. Gorbenko represented Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics in swimming in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 400m individual medley, 4x200m freestyle relay, and mixed 4x100m medley relay.

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.

Kumudu Priyanka Dissanayake Mudiyanselage is a Sri Lankan Paralympic track and field athlete who is also a current world record holder in women's 200m T45 category. She made her first Paralympic appearance representing Sri Lanka at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.

Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Tharushi Dilsara Karunaratne is a Sri Lankan middle-distance runner who competes mainly in the 800 metres. She won a 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.

References

  1. ↑ "Personal Best". International Association of Athletics. Retrieved 10 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "K.V.Damayanthi DARSHA". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  3. ↑ "Athletics - Damayanthi Dharsha (Sri Lanka)". www.the-sports.org. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  4. ↑ Ranasinghe, Dinushki (2020-05-08). "A message from Damayanthi Darsha on COVID-19". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  5. ↑ "A depleted Lankan contingent on the track". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  6. ↑ "Asian Games Medal winners". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  7. ↑ "ක්‍රීඩා ප්‍රතිරූ - ආසියාවේ කළු වෙළඹ දමයන්ති දර්ශා". ThePapare.com. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  8. 1 2 "Darsha: First Sri Lankan schoolgirl to take part in the Olympics". Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portals. 2019-01-08. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  9. ↑ Rodrigopulle, Elmo. "Flying Princess DAMAYANTHI DARSHA". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  10. ↑ "Damayanthi Darsha - the youngest Lankan athlete to take part in Olympics". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  11. ↑ "Sunday Musings -When to pick up the shining pebble". www.sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  12. ↑ "Run Dharsha, run". Himal Southasian. 1999-01-31. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  13. ↑ "In South Asia high income does not mean more medals | More sports News - Times of India". The Times of India. September 10, 2018. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  14. ↑ "Asian Games 2018: Meet the record-holders in athletics". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  15. ↑ Mehrish, Akshat (2018-08-17). "Asian Games 2018: All the Games Records in Athletics". www.sportskeeda.com. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  16. ↑ "Online edition of Daily News - Sports". archives.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  17. ↑ Seneviratne, Akhila (2021-07-12). "Sri Lankan Flag Bearers at the Olympics: Carrying more than just a flag". ThePapare.com. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  18. ↑ "The Hindu Sportstar Weekly, July 7, 2007: "Darsha calls it a day"". Archived from the original on February 6, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ↑ "Cricket World Cup 2019, Opening Ceremony Highlights". India Today. 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  20. ↑ "Damayanthi Darsha of Sri Lanka bats during the ICC Cricket World Cup..." Getty Images. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  21. ↑ "Damayanthi Dharsha contests VP post at SLA". Sunday Observer. 2021-03-20. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  22. ↑ "Daily Mirror - Sri Lanka Latest Breaking News and Headlines - Print Edition Veteran athletics official G.L.S. Perera heads Technical Officials sub-committee". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  23. ↑ "Olympian Darsha wins race to become a Sri Lanka Athletics vice-presidents". Print Edition - The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2021-07-15.
  24. ↑ Did not start in the final.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.