Career
In the 2011 Junior National Championships, Ramanayake made her debut at national level by representing Rajapaksa Central and finished sixth in the Under 18 girls’ 3,000 metres. Later, she started running the 800 metres and won a medal at the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships. [3] For many years, she was second-fiddle to both her seniors and contemporaries before cementing her position in the 400 metre sprint event. At the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships, Ramanayake competed in the women's 4x400-meter race that broke the national record. She qualified for the 2023 Asian Championship and surpassed Menaka Wickramasinghe to become the third fastest woman in Sri Lankan history in the 400m. [4] At the 400 meter event, she finished the race with a timing of 52.61 seconds and won gold in Thailand at the Asian Athletics Championships 2023. Ramanayake also became the eighth Sri Lankan to win an Asian Championships individual gold medal. [5] She was also a member of the 4x400m women's relay silver medal-winning team and a prominent member of the 4x400m mixed relay silver medal-winning team at the same championship.
At the 47th Sri Lankan National Sports Games held in August 2023, she won gold for both 200m and 400m and also bagged the best women athlete award. [6]
Career Highlights
Nadeesha Ramanayaka began her international career in middle-distance running, winning a silver medal in the 800 metres at the 2013 South Asian Junior Athletics Championship in Ranchi, India. She later transitioned to the 400 metres, where she achieved greater success.
In 2017, Ramanayaka secured the gold medal in the 800 metres at the Brunei Open Athletics Championship. The following year, she switched her primary focus to the 400 metres and went on to win the gold medal at the Thailand Open Athletics Championship (2018).
Her international breakthrough came in 2019, when she earned silver and bronze medals in the Asian Grand Prix series. At the Asian Athletics Championships in Doha, she finished 6th in the 400 metres and contributed to Sri Lanka’s 4th-place finish in the 4×400 metres relay, setting a new national record. Later that year, she also competed at the 7th CISM Military World Games in Wuhan, China, placing 7th in the 400 metres.
Ramanayaka’s career peaked in 2023, when she won the gold medal in the 400 metres at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bangkok. At the same championships, she also helped secure silver medals in both the women’s 4×400 metres relay and the mixed 4×400 metres relay, with both teams setting national records. Later that year, at the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China, she was part of the Sri Lankan team that won the bronze medal in the 4×400 metres relay (national record). She also placed 5th in the individual 400 metres and initially finished 2nd in the 4×400 metres mixed relay before the team was disqualified.
In 2024, Ramanayaka continued her strong performances, winning the silver medal in the 400 metres at the UAE Athletics Grand Prix and another silver medal in the 4×400 metres mixed relay at the Asian Relay Championships in Bangkok. She also recorded consistent top-five finishes in the 400 metres at international meets in Taipei and Osaka.
Her consistency at the elite level continued in 2025, when she won a bronze medal in the 4×400 metres relay at the Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea. She also represented Sri Lanka at the World Athletics Relays in Guangzhou, competing in both the women’s and mixed 4×400 metres relays, and at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, where the team placed 5th in the 4×400 metres relay.
Nadeesha Ramanayaka has also qualified to take part in the Tokyo World Athletics Championships 2025, scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan, from 13 to 20 September 2025.
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