Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 160,000 registered rugby union players in Sri Lanka, making it the second largest rugby-playing nation in Asia, behind Japan.
Sport in Sri Lanka is a significant part of Sri Lankan culture. Although the Sports Ministry named volleyball the national sport, the most popular sport is Cricket. Rugby union is also popular. Other popular sports are water sports, badminton, athletics, football, basketball and tennis. Sri Lanka's schools and colleges regularly organize sports and athletics teams, competing on provincial and national levels.
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.
The 2022 Asian Games, officially the 19th Asian Games and also known as Hangzhou 2022, was a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The games marked the 110th anniversary since the creation of the first continental event, starting with the 1913 Far Eastern Championship Games. The games were hailed as an incredible success by numerous officials from the Olympic Council of Asia and Asian Paralympic Committee.
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.
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.
Sri Lanka's women's national rugby sevens team represents Sri Lanka in Rugby sevens at international level.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia from April 4 to April 15, 2018.
Sri Lanka participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 6 October to 18 October 2018.
Sri Lanka participated at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from 18 August to 2 September 2018.
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.
Milka Gehani Elpitiya Badalge Dona also known as Milka Gehani de Silva is a Sri Lankan artistic gymnast. She earned a continental quota spot to the 2020 Summer Olympics after the cancellation of the 2021 Asian Championships. She was the first Sri Lankan gymnast across all disciplines to compete in the Olympics. She also represented Sri Lanka at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2019 and 2022 World Championships.
Sumanthiran Navaratnam, also known as Sumana Navaratnam or Summa Navaratnam, was a Sri Lankan track and field athlete, rugby union player, coach and business executive. He was regarded as one of the finest sportspeople from Sri Lanka. He was considered as the oldest living Sri Lankan athlete until his death.
Tehani Egodawela, also known as M. G. T. U. E. Egodawela, or Udeshika Egodawela is a Sri Lankan sports shooter and a current national record holder in shooting. She competed at the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England from 28 July to 8 August 2022. This was Sri Lanka's 17th appearance at the Commonwealth Games.
Rugby sevens at the 2022 Asian Games was held at the Cangqian Campus Field, China over three days from 24 to 26 September 2023.
Tharinda Ratwatte also known as Ashan Ratwatte is a Sri Lankan rugby union and sevens player who plays as a fly-half. His father Ashan Ratwatte was also a rugby union player having played for both Kandy SC and Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club. His granduncle Anuruddha Ratwatte was a politician.
During the FINA World Aquatics Championships, athletes whose governing body have been suspended are still allowed to compete under the FINA flag with the "country" designation as "Suspended Member Federation". In 2015 the Sri Lankan federation was suspended, but they competed as independent athletes under the FINA code. Since 2017 Kuwait, Kenya, and the Philippines have sent participants to the Aquatics Championships under the SMF code.
From 2015 to 2022 when the World Aquatics was still known as FINA, neutral athletes have competed under the designation Independent FINA Athlete (IFA) either due to their national federation's suspension of their governing body or as refugees.
Sri Lanka competed at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China from September 23 to October 8, 2023. This was Sri Lanka's 19th appearance at the Asian Games, having competed at every Games since the second edition in 1951.
Chinese Taipei 
South Korea 
Afghanistan 
Philippines 
Nepal 
Thailand