| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Sri Lankan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 December 1994 Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 400 metres | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on June 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nadeesha Ramanayake (born 25 December 1994) is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres sprint. She won gold medal at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships held in Bangkok in the 400m women's event. [1] She is a member of the Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps. [2]
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. Ramanayake also became the eighth Sri Lankan to win an Asian Championships individual gold medal. [5] 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]
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.
Deshabandu 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.
The Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps (SLAWC) is a corps of the Sri Lanka Army. The corps was raised on 1 September 1979. The regimental headquarters of this corps is at Borella, Colombo. Initially, members of this corps were employed in non-combat staff duties but later were employed in field duties.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo is a Bahamian track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. She is a two-time Olympic champion after winning the women's 400 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics and again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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.
Janieve Russell is a Jamaican track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres hurdles and the 400 metres sprint. She won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in Tokyo 2021, where she also finished fourth in the 400m hurdles final in a personal best of 53.08 secs. She is a four-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, winning the 400m hurdles title in 2018 and 2022, and the 4 × 400 m relay in 2014 and 2018. She has also won two relay silvers at the World Championships and a relay gold at the World Indoor Championships.
Salwa Eid Naser is a Nigerian-born Bahraini sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She was the 2019 World champion with the third fastest time in history of 48.14 seconds, becoming the youngest-ever champion in the event and also the first woman representing an Asian nation to win that event at a World Championships. The mark places her only behind contested results of Marita Koch and Jarmila Kratochvílová. Over the distance, at only 19, Naser was the 2017 World silver medallist. She has also won, as a member of the Bahraini mixed-gender 4x400 m relay team, the 2019 World Championships bronze medal.
Laviai Nielsen is a British sprinter specialising in the 400 metres.
Nimali Waliwarsha Konda Liyanarachchi is a Sri Lankan 800 m runner and current national record holder in women's 1500m event. She is also believed to be the first Sri Lankan woman to have competed in steeplechase events. She became the first Sri Lankan woman to complete the distance of 3000 metres in steeplechase event under 11 minutes. She won the best athlete award twice at the Presidential award ceremonies by the Sports Ministry including the Most Outstanding Sportswoman of the Year in 2015. She is currently attached to Sri Lanka Air Force.
Sri Lanka participated at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina from 6 October to 18 October 2018.
Aruna Darshana is a Sri Lankan sprinter specialising in the 400 metres. He was tipped by many in the circles that he could follow the footsteps of former veteran athlete Sugath Thilakaratne. He won the men's 400m event during the 2018 National Athletics Championships by clocking at 46.16 seconds.
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.
Kaushalya Madushani, also known as Kawshalya Madushani Edirippulilage or Kaushalya Madhushani, was a Sri Lankan track and field athlete who mainly competed in the hurdles event. She was a five-time national champion in the women's 400m hurdles. She was the defending national champion in women's 400m hurdles prior to her death when she defended her title successfully in 2022. She was attached to the Sri Lankan Army.
The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2023 in Sri Lanka.
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.
Sonia Baishya is an Indian athlete who competes in 400m event. She was selected for the Indian team in the 4x400 mixed relay event for the 2022 Asian Games at Hangzhou, China.
