Aruna Darshana competes in Men’s 400m semis today
400m champion Aruna Darshana, who sets a remarkable mark in Olympic history for a Sri Lankan athlete to reach the semi-finals, will take to the Paris Stade de France track tonight at 11.05 Sri Lanka time. Aruna Darshana has become the only player from Sri Lanka to reach the semi-finals after Duncan White in 1948 London Olympics and Susanthika Jayasinghe in 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Aruna Darshana, who participated in the Olympic preliminary round of 400 meters yesterday, entered the semi-finals with a time of 44.99 seconds. He fell just a few tenths short of erasing the 400m Sri Lankan record set by Sugath Thilakaratne in Fukuoka, Japan in 1998 (44.61 seconds). Breaking that Sri Lankan record is another hope of Aruna Darshana.
Therefore, Aruna Darshana, who was born in a rural village of Seruwila Sinhapura, has been highly praised by the athletic commentators for his skills in Paris, and he has been introduced as a revolutionary athlete.
Aruna Darshana after the men’s 400m preliminary round raceAruna Darshana after the men’s 400m preliminary round race
Today’s semi-final will feature 24 of the world’s best athletes, and Aruna Darshana is ranked 17th. A lot of attention has been focused on this semi-final as Aruna passed several of the leading world giants in terms of time entering the preliminary round.
“I came to Paris expecting to make a semi-final run. I did that. Now I have to plan how to get to the finals. I am planning according to the instructions of my trainer Asanka Rajakaruna. According to that plan, they are planning to run in the semi-finals. This journey was very difficult to come by. That’s the challenge. I know that the people of Sri Lanka are watching me. I know that their blessings are important for me to make my journey more successful” said Aruna Darshana.
Aruna Darshana, who entered sports from Dehiwatta High School and Akurangoda Weerakappetipola College, is serving in the Sri Lanka Army. His coach Asanka Rajakaruna said that recording a time under 45 seconds was expected at the Paris Olympics.
Noah becomes the fastest man in the world
America’s Noah Lyles, who won the gold medal in the 100 meters at the Paris Olympics, becomes the fastest man in the world. Noah Lyles recorded a time of 9.784 seconds yesterday, a stunning 0.005 tenths of a second ahead of silver medalist Kishan Thomson. Kishan’s time was 9.789 seconds, while American Fred Curley, who won the bronze medal, clocked 9.81 seconds.
For the first time in the history of the 100m race, all the eight players who participated in the final finished the race under 10 seconds.
Tharushi’s playing kit goes to Olympic museum
International Olympic Programe Senior Manager Ann Jacquard requested that the 800m athlete Tharushi Karunaratne’s clothes used to compete in the Paris Olympics a few days ago be displayed in the museum of the International Olympic Committee.
At the International Olympic Committee Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tharushi’s dress is displayed under the title of ‘Diriya Diyaniyak’ (Courageous daughter), and a certificate of appreciation is given to Tarushi with the signature of the President of the International Olympic Committee. For the first time in the history of the Sri Lanka Olympic Committee, a set of athletes’ clothes is being displayed at the World Olympic Museum, and it was made according to a request made by the Olympic Secretary General Maxwell de Silva.
