Junior National Athletics games from April 23 to 26
The Athletics Association of Sri Lanka has decided to stage the Junior National Athletics Championships fromapril 23 to 26.
The event was originally scheduled to be held on April 2, 3,4 and 5 at the Sugathadasa Stadium. The reason for postponing the event is because renovations of the Stadium is still not complete.
Stadium officials had earlier stated that renovations would be possible before March 31 but since they cannot finish the work before the promised date, the event has been postponed.
There are 2520 athletes, men and women, due to take part in four age categories. They are under 16, under 18, under 20 and under 23.
The Junior National Athletics Championships will serve as a selection trial for two international competitions. The first is the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships on May 5 and 6 at the Sugathadasa Stadium and the next is the Asian Junior Athletics Championships in Japan from July 4 to 8.
Major General Palitha Fernando, President of the Athletics Association of Sri Lanka (AASL) and Prema Pinnawela, Secretary General AASL held a press conference at the Colombo Automobile Club, where Maj. General Palitha Fernando said that there is a drop in female athletes taking part in senior level events.
The best example being that for the under 20 and under 23 athletic events, the participation of women athletes has dropped drastically. However there is a large amount of athletes for the under16 and under 18 events.
According to Maj. General Palitha Fernando there is a possibility that there may be a considerable drop in future women’s events.
Six countries have confirmed participation for the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships and it is expected that 200 athletes will take part in the event.
Sri Lanka is hoping to send three athletes for each event.
For the Asian Junior Athletics Championships to be held in Japan the quota is eight.
According to performances Sri Lanka is hoping to increase the amount of participants.