SL Army rewards Asian bronze medalist Vidusha Lakshani

Asian Athletics Championships Bronze medalist Vidusha Lakshani was honored by the Sri Lanka Army at a ceremony held coinciding with the Inter-Regiment annual championships for Netball and Volleyball held at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium last Wednesday.

Lakshani, who won a stunning Bronze medal at the 23rd edition of the Asian Championships held at the Khalifa International Stadium, in

Doha, Qatar in April this year, was givenwith a certificate and a cash prize of Rs 100,000 in the event that Sri Lanka Army Commander Major General Shavendra Silva, who attended as the Chief Guest.

The lanky sportswoman, hailing from Negombo, and a former student of Newstead College, leapt 13.53 metres in the Women's Triple Jump event, to win the rare and historical Bronze medal, the first claimed by a Sri Lankan in the 23-year-old regional championships.

"I am really happy and honoured to receive this reward, which is only thing I received for my Bronze medal won at the Asian Championship in Qatar," Lakshani stated. The Asian competition was held between April 21 to 24, the day Sri Lanka was rocked following the series of deadly Easter Sunday bomb attacks. Wearing a black band in her right arm, Lakshani competed and dedicated her Bronze medal to the victims of the attack, in which her some of her teachers and schoolmates died at the St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuneriya, Negombo. Lakshani is placed 60th in the current IAAF rankings, but the 23-year- old athlete was once ranked 41st in the world in the Triple Jump.