Sriyantha Dissanayake | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Sriyantha Subhashan Abeysekara Dissanayake 3 April 1969 |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Education | Nalanda College Colombo |
| Known for | Champion Sprinter |
Deshabandu [1] Sriyantha Dissanayake (also known as Sriyantha Subashan Abeysekara Dissanayake) is a Sri Lankan sprint athlete specializing in the 100 and 200 metres.
Sriyantha was a champion athlete during his school days at Nalanda College Colombo in the late 1980s. He became national champion at the age of eighteen and went on to win this honour 6 more times.
Sriyantha Dissanayake won a silver and a bronze medal in the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing and brought pride to Sri Lanka. In the 1991 South Asian Games held in Colombo he won gold medals in both the 100 metre and 200 metre events. In addition, he gained two more gold medals and a silver in the 1993 South Asian Games in Dhaka. Sriyantha also represented Sri Lanka in athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics held in Barcelona, Spain.
He is arguably the best male sprinter to come from his island being the only Sri Lankan athlete to have won a 100-metre medal in the Asian games.
Sriyantha Dissanayake is Sri Lanka's first ever recipient of Duncan White award on 1 March 1991 presented by Duncan White himself.
In 1992, he was awarded the title of Deshabandu for services to his country by the late president R. Premadase.
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.
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.
Michael Anthony McFarlane OBE was a British athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and was the 200 m gold medallist at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and a 60 metres gold medallist at the 1985 European Athletics Indoor Championships. McFarlane won two further sprint medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
Japan participated in the 1990 Asian Games held in Beijing, China from September 22, 1990 to October 7, 1990. The country was ranked 3rd in the medal tally with 38 gold medals, 60 silver medals and 76 bronze medals; a total of 174 medals.
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.
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.
Shehan Abeyptiya is a Sri Lankan male athlete who won 3 gold medals at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.
Srabani Nanda is an Indian woman sprint runner athlete from Odisha specialized in 4x100m relay, 100 metre and 200 metre sprint events. She belongs to Kandhamal District of Odisha. She trains in Kingston, Jamaica with MVP Track & Field Club under coach Stephen Francis.
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.
Deshabandu Wickramesinghe Wimaladasa is a Sri Lankan former sprinter who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics. He won two gold medals at the 1974 Asian Games held in Tehran, Iran, in the men's 400m and 4 × 400 m relay events.
Hassan Taftian is an Iranian sprinter. He is an olympic sprinter than represented Iran at Rio2016 and Tokyo2020. He represented his country at four outdoor and three indoor World Championships.
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.
At the 2002 West Asian Games. the athletics events were held in Kuwait City, Kuwait in April 2002. It had a men's only programme containing seventeen track and field events. Several athletics events usually held at multi-sport events were excluded from the schedule: the steeplechase, 10,000 metres, javelin and discus throws, marathon and race walking events were all absent.
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.
Kyle Abeysinghe is a Sri Lankan national swimmer who has represented his country at several international competitions. At the domestic level, Abeysinghe holds numerous national records, has been national champion several times, and is a member of the Killer Whale Aquatic Club, under his coach and father, Manoj Abeysinghe. At the 2017 Youth Commonwealth Games in Nassau, Bahamas, Abeysinghe won two silver medals in the 50m and the 100m Freetyle, becoming the only Sri Lankan in swimming to achieve this feat.
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.
Vinoj Suranjaya De Silva Muthumuni also simply known as Vinoj De Silva or Vinoj Suranjaya is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete and a national record holder in men's 200m.
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.
