Nadeesha Ramanayake (born 25 December 1994) is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete who competes mainly in the 400 metres sprint. She won gold medal at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championships held in Bangkok in the 400m women's event.[1] She is a member of the Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps.[2]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | Sri Lankan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 25 December 1994 Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 400 metres | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on June 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career
editIn the 2011 Junior National Championships, Ramanayake made her debut at national level by representing Rajapaksa Central and finished sixth in the Under 18 girls’ 3,000 metres. Later, she started running the 800 metres and won a medal at the South Asian Junior Athletics Championships.[3] For many years, she was second-fiddle to both her seniors and contemporaries before cementing her position in the 400 metre sprint event. At the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships, Ramanayake competed in the women's 4x400-meter race that broke the national record. She qualified for the 2023 Asian Championship and surpassed Menaka Wickramasinghe to become the third fastest woman in Sri Lankan history in the 400m.[4] At the 400 meter event, she finished the race with a timing of 52.61 seconds and won gold. Ramanayake also became the eighth Sri Lankan to win an Asian Championships individual gold medal.[5] At the 47th Sri Lankan National Sports Games held in August 2023, she won gold for both 200m and 400m and also bagged the best women athlete award.[6]
References
edit- ^ "Ramanayake wins gold after 23 years in 400m at the Asian Athletic Championship - Breaking News | Daily Mirror". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ "SL Army Athletics Tourney, a grand success". themorning.lk. 11 April 2024.
- ^ Walpola, Thilina (14 July 2023). "Nadeesha rises from Junior National 6th place to clinch Asian title". Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ Weerasooriya, Sahan (27 April 2023). "Nadeesha overtakes Menaka with third fastest time in SL history". Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ RealPOS (13 July 2023). "A gold medal for Sri Lanka from Nadeesha Ramanayake". sportssrilanka.com. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ damith (27 August 2023). "Nadeesha and Dharshana Best Athletes at NSG". DailyNews. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
