New records set on Day One of Sir John Tarbet Junior Athletic C’ship

Two new records were established at the Ritzbury Junior Sir John Tarbet Athletic Championship, which began at the Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium yesterday. The event was originally planned to be held from December 10 to 12, but was postponed due to a directive from the Ministry of Education with regard to the hazardous air quality in Colombo.

Thushara Mendis of Lyceum International, Wattala, set up the first record at the boys’ under 15 high jump with 1.93m; the previous record of 1.84m was held by A.K.D Silva of Hegalle MV.

Meanwhile, S.D. Hettiarachchi of Dharmaraja College, Kandy, established a new meet record in the boys’ under 12 80m event, clocking in 10.1 seconds. The previous record was held by Damith Weerasinghe of St. Peter’s, Bambalapitiya, with 10.4 seconds.

The Sri Lanka Schools Athletic Association conducted the Meet, and Ritzbury once again gave their support as the principal sponsor.

The Sir John Tarbet Junior Athletic Meet is taking place after two years due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Schools Athletic Association officials, judges and referees from the Sri Lanka Athletics, as well as Sports Medical Unit officials were present at the Meet.

Dr. Dhammika Senanayake, Senior Doctor of the Medical Unit, said, “Medical doctors are providing the best treatment for athletes who get injuries.”

Around 3,500 athletes are taking part in the event, of which the closing ceremony will be held tomorrow (30), at the same venue. The performances in this meet will be considered for the Junior selections to form the Junior National pool.