Indrajith and Geethani keep their marathon dreams alive
For the XXXI Summer Olympics which will commence from August 5th to 21st, 207 nations will vie for honours in 28 disciplines. A total number of 8,235 athletes have already confirmed their participation. But the total number is likely to increase, as the last qualifying date for athletics is 12 July.
Sri Lanka's nine member team has confirmed its participation, yet, that too may increase if any one qualifies during 94th athletic national championship which will be concluded today at Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Diyagama.
Sri Lanka is participating in Six sporting disciplines in the upcoming Rio Olympics. They are athletics, swimming, badminton, judo, rifle shooting and weight lifting. In the Sri Lanka Olympic team only four are qualified. They are Anuradha Indrajith Cooray (Marathon - Men), Niluka Geethani Rajasekara (Marathon -Women ), Sumedha Ranasinghe (Javelin) and Matthew Abeysinghe (Swimming).
The rest of the members are wild card entries. They are Niluka Karunaratne (Badminton), Chamara Nuwan Darmaratne (Judo), Mangala Samarakoon (Rifle Shooting), Sudesh Peiris (Weight Lifting ) and Kimko Raheem (Swimming).
In Sri Lanka Olympic history, it will be the first time that a male and female marathon runner have qualified.
The marathoner Anuradha Indrajith Cooray is participating in the Olympics for the third time, while Rajasekara is the first Sri Lanka woman participating at an Olympic marathon event. Anuradhas' first Olympic marathon was the Athens Olympics in 2004. He
Born: 24th March 1978 (38 years)
2003 2004 2005 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Singapore Marathon South Asian Games Olympic Games London Marathon London Marathon London Marathon Pune Marathon Pune, London Marathon Olympic Games London Marathon World Half Marathon Asian Games London Marathon World Championships South Asian Games clocked 2 hrs 19 min and 24 secs and ended up the marathon. Anuradha did not qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. But he qualified again for the Singapore Islamabad Athens London London London India London London London Copenhagen Incheon London Beijing Guwahati 4th 1st 30th 28th 22nd 27th 10th 23rd 55th 16th 76th 6th 14th 29th 2nd 2:21:16 2:16:38 2:19:24 2:20:16 2:21:02 2:21:12 2:18:42 2:17:50 2:20:41 2:17:53 1:05:20 2:15:51 2:13:47 2:25:04 2:15:19 London Olympics in 2012. He clocked 2 hrs 20 min and 41 secs and ended 55th.
Currently Anuradha is employed at Greggs, London. Anuradha's coach nominated for Olympics is Upali Wickremasinghe. He is training in Kenya at present and will arrive in Sri Lanka on 29 July. According to National Olympic Committee (NOC) secretary Maxwell De Silva this may be his last Olympics and probably he will retire at the end of this year.
Then in famous London Marathon, which is held every year, Cooray participated six times. He participated for the first time in 2005. He finished 28th with a timing of 2 hrs 20 min and 16 secs. And in 2009, he finished 22nd with a finish time of 2 hrs 21 min and 02 secs. In 2011, he finished 27th with a time of 2 hrs, 21 min and 12 secs. In 2012, he improved his performance to finish 23rd with a timing of 2 hrs, 17 min and 50 secs. Then in 2013, he further improved his standings to finish 16th with a timing of 2 hrs 17 min and 53 secs. And finally in 2015 London Marathon, he climbed to 14th place with an improved timing of 2 hrs 13 min 47 secs.
This was his best performance at London Marathon. With this superb timing he was selected for the Rio Olympics. The Olympic qualifying standard for Marathon was 2 hrs 17 min and 00secs. Anuradha in South Asian Games (SAG), in year 2004, he finished first to win the gold by clocking 2 hrs 16 min and 38 secs. This year SAG in India, he missed the Gold Medal by just minutes to take the Silver with a timing of
Olympic Games
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World Cup Marathon
1987 Rome Mexico Munich Seoul Barcelona Sydney Athens Rome Helsinki Beijing Bangkok Bangkok Beijing Hiroshima Doha Incheon Seoul LC Dias RA Wimalasena Perera SLB Rosa did not finish VKL Samarasinghe KA Karunaratne Sarath Prasanna Gamage Anuradha Indrajith Cooray VKL Samarasinghe Anuradha Indrajith Cooray Anuradha Indrajith Cooray RA Wimalasena Perera R Seeniwasagam KA Karunaratne KA Karunaratne AM AjithBandara Anuradha Indrajith Cooray VKL Samarasinghe KA Karunaratne Bandula Samarasinghe VKL Samarasinghe KA Karunaratne GVAN Perera KA Karunaratne VKL Samarasinghe MW Nawaratne 2 hrs 15 min and 19 secs. He participate in one Asian game marathon in Incheon, Korea in 2014. He finished in the 6th place with a timing of 2 hrs 15 min and 51 scs. Anuradha, also participated in World Championships in Helsinki, Finland in 2005. But he did not finished the marathon. In 2015 World championships in Beijing, China he finished 29th with a timing of 2 hrs 25 min and 04 secs.
Anuradha Indrajith Cooray, was born on March 24 1978. He had his entire education at Divulapitiya Central. At school his two events was 5000m and 10000m. He later joined Sri Lanka Army. Under the guidance of late Brigadier Perry Liyanage, he was trained to become a marathon runner. Cooray is now presently based in London, United Kingdom.
Cooray is the 7th marathon runner to represent Sri Lanka in Olympics. The first was Linus Dias in Rome Olympics in 1960. Then in Mexico City Olympics of 1968, it was R.A.Wimalasena Perera. In 1972 Munich Olympics - It was famed S.L.B Rosa. In Seoul Olympics of 1988, V.K.L.Samarasinghe took part. In 1992 Barcelona Olympics it was K.A.Karunaratne. Finally In 2000 Sydney Olympics, Sarath Prasanna Gamage competed. Out of all these Sri Lankan marathon runners, S.L.B. Rosa could not finish.
When you take the history of Marathon in Sri Lanka, the first ever marathon was 39th 51st 65th 71st 73RD 31st 34th Did not finish 29th 7th 10th 4th 9th 15th 6th 80th 96th 145th 33rd 42nd 92nd 79th 159th 179th 2:28:35 2:25:04 3:13:47 2:32:24 2:19:22 2:34:06 2:27:16 2:15:51 2:23:36 2:26:21 2:45:36 2:17:35 2:18:55 2:38:35 2:17:36 2:25:09 2:27:23 held in year 1959. It was conducted by Ceylon Track and Feild Club (CT and FC). The winner was Linus Dias with a timing of 2 hrs 40 min and 53 secs, and he was the first marathon runner to compete at Olympics in 1960. Sri Lanka women's marathon runner for Olympics, Niluka Geethani Rajasekara is a product Walala A. Rathnayake Central College. Her first coach was Susantha Fernando. She competed first 1500m in athletics as a short distance runner. She shifted to run long distance running only in last year. Her record in marathon was participating last years SAG in India. She won the silver medal with a timing of 2 hrs 15 min and 47 secs. She is presently training in Nuwara Eliya under the watchful eyes of her husband Janaka, who is the personal coach. Her first marathon competition was Lanka Sports Reisen (LSR) in 2014 where she recorded a time of 2 hrs 47 min 55secs. It was a Sri Lankan record. In Hong Kong marathon of 2015, she timed 2 hrs 40 min 07secs and she renewed the existing Sri Lankan record. From this timing she qualified for the Olympics. The Olympic qualifying standard was 2 hrs 42 min 00 secs. Prior to participating at SAG this year, she had a five week training in Kenya. Rajasekara stated." I am happy that I am participating in Olympics with a qualified standard and not a wild card entry. I am also happy that I am the first Sri Lankan woman to participate in an Olympic. Though I was qualified, I have gained anything from any body. When I was qualified, it was a surprise for everybody. All I have to say is only my employee Sri Lanka Army took total care of me."