Five athletes for 4x400m Commonwealth Games
 

 DINESH Weerawansa

ATHLETICS: The first five athletes of the men's 400m final at this weekend's national athletic trials will qualify to compete at next month's Commonwealth Games in Australia.

A total of 370 men and 170 women will be seen in action as the cream of national athletes vie for honours at the two-day trails which begins at Sugathadasa Stadium, Colombo today.

President of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka (AASL), Dervin Perera said only the men's 400m will have a final. "This is a trial meet to test the timings. Based on their performances, they would be included in Sri Lanka pool for the Commonwealth

Games and the 2006 Asian Grand Prix Series," he said. However, Perera said, only the men's 400m event, which has the largest single entry, will have a final as Sri Lanka will be competing in both men's 400m and 4 x 400m relay at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne later next month.

Among the top sprinters who would make the event a keen contest are former Asian Games gold medallist Sugath Tillakaratne, Asian Championship double medallist Rohan Pradeep Kumara, Asian Grand prix winner Prasanna Amarasekera, World championship sprinter Ranga Wimalawansa and Rohitha Pushpakumara.

The AASL chief predicted a few new Sri Lanka records at the meet. "Men's 1,500m, 800m, 3,000m, long jump and women's javelin throw should produce good performers," he said.

For the first time ever in Sri Lankan athletic history, men's 3,000m event has been included in a competition as the AASL plans to find competitors for the 2006 Asian Grand Prix Series. Leading long distance runners Sunil Jayaweera and Chaminda Wijekoon are expected to dominate in this new event as well.

Interestingly, Asian Games triple gold medallist Damayanthi Darsha will compete in women's 200m for the first time in a major national level meet in nearly six years.

Darsha, who moved from 200m to 400m in 1998, has returned to her former pet event with a goal of winning her fifth medal in her fourth successive Asian Games in Doha later this year.

However, she will miss compatriot Susanthika Jayasinghe who has decided to keep away on the advise of her American coach Tony Campbell.

The man who guided the Lankan lass to win an Olympic medal six years ago, has advised Jayasinghe not to peak right now as the sprinter has just recovered from a leg injury, which kept her out of 2005 season.

Though the meet will serve as a trial to pick Sri Lanka athletes for Commonwealth Games, 2006 Asian Grand Prix Series and a series of Open International meets in Asian region, the AASL has decided to conduct a separate trial to finalise the Sri Lanka team for the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo in August, 2006.