US-based high jumper Thiwanka gets gold clearing 2.20m

Ushan Thiwanka, the Sri Lankan high- jumper based in USA, clinched gold clearing a height of 2.20m in the Men’s High Jump event at the Lone Star Conference’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships, early yesterday.

The 24-year-old Lankan, representing Texas A&M, topped the ranking beating Justin Lewis (2.11m) and Dakari Hill (2.08m).

The former Maris Stella College student, Thiwanka, is the current national record holder in men's jump with a height of 2.30m. He is the first and only Sri Lankan jumper to raise the bar to 2.30m with the previous best has been 2.27m, set by Manjula Kumara Wijesekera. Wijesekera held the national record for closer to two decades before Thiwanka grabbed the honours clearing 2.28m last year. Four months later he improved it to 2.30m.

Given his current form, Thiwanka is one of Sri Lanka’s best medal prospects at this year’s Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham, England in July.

He has also enjoyed a purple patch of a form renewing the Sri Lankan Indoor High Jump record in February this year. His indoor record stands at 2.27m.

Meanwhile Senira Amarasinghe finished fifth clearing a height of just 2.0m far from his personal best of 2.15m.