Lankan athletes off to Bangkok

Chinthana Wasala

A 17 member athletic contingent left for Thailand last night to participate in the first and second leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletic Championship in Bangkok (June 23) and Korat (June 26).

The third will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam on June 30.

This will be the last chance for the Lankan athletes to get through to Beijing Olympics. The women’s team consists of Menaka Wickramasinghe (400m), Premila Priyadarshani (100m) and Priyangika Madumanthi (High jump).

The last minute additions are Lasanthi Gunasekera, Chandrika Subhashini, Malkanthi de Silva, Lalana Kanthi and Thaloja Kumari for the women’s 400X4m.

The men’s team includes Umanga Surendra (100m), Prasanna Amarasekera (400m, 400X4m) Prabhath Mendis (1500m) Rohitha Pushpakumara, Dulan Priyashantha, Ashoka Jayasundara and Shiwanka weerasuriya (400mX4).

Team manager Sunil Gunawardena is the only officer on tour. Physiotherapist Samantha Kumara Rajapakse will accompany the team.