Our Olympians at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics

By Sakuni Kalyaratne

The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, was held in Tokyo, Japan from 23rd July to 8th August 2021, despite getting delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic. Sri Lanka took part at the Summer Olympics for the 18th time this year with a team of nine athletes (four men and five women). Judoka Chamara Dharmawardana and artistic gymnast Milka Gehani were Sri Lanka’s flag-bearers during the opening ceremony while Yupun Abeykoon was the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony. 

Yupun Abeykoon

Yupun was one of two who represented Sri Lanka in athletics. He achieved the entry standard through the world ranking. Currently residing in Italy for a scholarship he won in 2015, Yupun is attached to the Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army and represents Army Sports Club. A national record holder in men’s 100m and in men’s indoor 60m, he is the current fastest Sri Lankan man as well as the fastest South Asian man in men’s 100m discipline. 

After competing at the 2013 South Asian Junior Athletics Championships held in Ranchi, Yupun won the Bronze medal in men’s 4*100m relay event at the 2015 Military World Games and Gold medal in the same event at the 2019 South Asian Games. He along with Chanuka Sandeepa, Himasha Eashan and Vinoj Suranjaya, set a new national and South Asian Games record in the latter. On 8 September 2020, He broke the South Asian record as well as the national record in men’s 100m clocking a time of 10.16 seconds, surpassing the previous best of 10.22 seconds, in a competition held in Germany, earning him the “South Asia’s fastest man” nickname. He followed it up with wining a bronze medal in men’s 100m event with a timing of 10.24 seconds at the Gala dei Castelli as a part of the World Athletics Bronze Level Series Meet, held in Switzerland. That was followed by renewing his own personal as well as the national record by clocking 10.15 seconds in the 100m during the Meeting di Savona Championship in Italy, which he bettered later in the same month at the Anhalt 2021 competition, by clocking 10.09 seconds. In June 2021, Yupun was qualified to represent Sri Lanka at the 2020 Summer Olympics, becoming the first Sri Lankan to obtain direct qualification for the 100m event at the Olympics after 25 years. On 31 July 2021, he completed his 100m race with a timing of 10.32 seconds in the Tokyo Olympics, placing sixth in the heat. 

Nimali Liyanarachchi

After pursuing steeplechase initially, Nimali later switched to 800m where she competed and was placed 4th in the women’s 800m event at the 2013 Asian Athletics Championships. She then participated at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, marking her first appearance in the meet, though was not able to place in the 800m heat. Nimali went on to win the Bronze medal in the women’s 800m event during the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships in Wuhan, with a timing of 2:03.94 minutes, making it the first medal to be won by a Sri Lankan athlete in 800m at an Asian Games after 22 years. 

Nimali claimed a Silver in 800m event at the 2016 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Doha with a new national record of 2:4.88 minutes, followed by a Gold medal at the 2016 South Asian Games with a timing of 2:09.40 minutes. She also competed at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics held in London, becoming the first Sri Lankan athlete to compete in women’s 800m evet at a World Championship. Nimali then went on to win the Bronze in the same event at the 2018 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships in Tehran. During the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships, Nimlai along with Nadeesha Ramanayaka, Dilshi Kumarashinghe, and Upamalika Ratnakumari set the new Sri Lankan national record for 4*400m relay with a record timing of 3:35.06. Nimali also managed to claim Silver in the 800m at the 2019 Military World Games. She was one of the athletes to have participated at the 60th National Inter-State Athletics Championships, held in New Delhi, India as part of the preparations before the 2020 Olympics, where she claimed Bronze in the 800m event. As of March 2021, Nimali was ranked among the top 60 athletes in the world as per World Athletics, thus receiving the Universality Place to compete at the Summer Olympics. Nimali represented Sri Lanka at the Tokyo Summer Olympics in the women’s 800m, making her Olympic debut, becoming the first Sri Lanka track and field athlete to compete in women’s 800m event at the Olympics after 29 years. 

Niluka Karunaratne

Hailing from a badminton family, Niluka is a Sri Lankan Olympic badminton player, having competed in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics. He is regarded as the number one premiere badminton player in Sri Lanka at the moment, and the country’s most decorated badminton player with a record 21 medals to his name at international level, including 9 Gold medals. He was able to reach his highest career singles ranking of 34 in June 2013, which also happens to be the personal best ranking by a Sri Lankan badminton player. Niluka has the distinction of winning five Gold medals in five different continents. He has been the national badminton champion a record 17 times, the most by a Sri Lanka player. 

Having started badminton at the age of 8, Niluka became the youngest ever Sri Lankan national badminton champion at the age of 16 in 2001, wining his maiden national title on debut at the Sri Lankan Badminton Nationals. He had competed in five consecutive Commonwealth Games from 2002 to 2006. Having set a record for winning most consecutive number of men’s singles titles at the Sri Lanka Badminton Nationals during 9 occasions from 2000-09, Niluka won his first international badminton championship in 2001 at the Puerto Rico International. On 30 July 2012, Niluka defeated world 8th ranked Kenichi Tago of Japan 2-0 in the Olympic men’s badminton singles Group C at the 2012 Summer Olympics, making the biggest win in the history of Sri Lanka badminton. Niluka retired from competing in local events after winning the record 17th badminton title in 2021, though he continued to compete in foreign competitions with the aim of qualifying for 2020 Olympics. He was qualified to participate at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics after getting tripartite commission quota from Badminton World Federation, marking his third appearance at the Olympics, becoming the first Sri Lankan badminton player to compete at three successive Olympics. Niluka retired from international badminton following the Tokyo Olympics. 

Mathilda Karlsson

Sri Lanka entered a jumping rider into the Olympics equestrian competition for the first time in history at the 2020 Olympics, in the form of Mathilda Karlsson, who qualified after finishing in the top two of the individual FEI Olympics Rankings for Group G (Southeast Asia and Oceania). Having born in Sri Lanka, Mathilda grew up in Sweden after she was adopted by her Swedish parents and competed for Sweden until 2018, switching to her native country afterwards. She was the first Sri Lankan to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Her horse is called Chopin VA. Mathilda lives in Germany, where she runs and manages her own equestrian business while also training, breeding, and selling horses in Gronwohld Hof. She decided to compete for Sri Lanka in 2018, thus becoming the first Sri Lankan showjumper.

Milka Gehani

Milka is an artistic gymnast who has represented Sri Lanka at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and the 2019 World Championships. She earned a continental quota spot to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first Sri Lankan gymnast across all disciplines to qualify to the Olympics.She placed 6th on three events, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise, and 5th on the balance, contributing to Sri Lankan team’s 4th place finish. Milka turned Senior in 2019 and made her World Championship debut at the 2019 World Championships in Germany, placing 114th in qualifications. In September 2020, she placed 40th at the All-Japan Championships. She was awarded one of the two available Asian continental berths to the 2020 Summer Olympics due to the cancellation of the 2021 Asian Championships, as she was the highest ranked eligible athlete from results of 2019 World Championships, marking Sri Lanka’s debut in gymnastics at the Olympics. She was also the second Sri Lankan athlete to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics and also became the country’s youngest ever flag bearer at the Olympics. After the Olympics, Milka received an extension to her scholarship to continue training in Japan for another two years. 

Chamara Dharmawardana

Chamara is a Sri Lanka Judoka attached with the Sri Lanka Air Force. He had represented Sri Lanka at the 2014 Commonwealth Games which happened to be his maiden participation at the Games, where he competed in the men’s 73kg event, reaching the round of 16. Chamara then went on to represent the country at the 2016 Summer Olympics, marking his debut Olympics appearance, in the men’s 73kg event in which he was eliminated in the third round. He won the Silver medal in the 73kg event at the 2016 South Asian Games. Chamara qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics through an invitation from the Tripartite Commission and did not progress from the round of 32. 

Tehani Egodawela

Tehani Egodawela is a Sri Lankan sports shooter and the current record holder in shooting, who participated in the Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020 after receiving an invitation from the Tripartite Commission. She competed in the Women’s 10m air rifle and ranked 49th with 611.5 points. She was selected as the best shooter at national level for a record 7 times, representing National Pool since 2012, before being recognized as the best women’s rifle shooter at the Sri Lankan Navy Open Shooting Championships in 2013. At the 2016 National Shooting Sports Federation, Tehani won the bronze medal in the women’s 50m rifle 3*20 events representing the Sri Lanka Navy. She represented Sri Lanka at the 2016 South Asian Games just after giving birth to her twin baby sons, winning the Bronze medal in the women’s 50m rifle 0.22 team event. In 2018, Tehani set the Sri Lankan national record in women’s 10m air rifle 0.177 category, before setting the national record in women’s 50m rifle 0.22 category at the 2019 Asian Championships. Tehani was selected to compete in the women’s 10m air rifle 0.1777 event in the shooting category in the Summer Olympics 2020, after the Tripartite Commission Invitation placed her eligible, making her debut appearance at an Olympic competition. She was the third Sri Lankan athlete to be selected for the 2020 Olympics. 

Matthew Abeysinghe

Matthew is a Sri Lankan swimmer and is considered as one of the most accomplished athletes Sri Lanka has produced. He trained with the Killer Whale Aquatics until departing to the U.S for higher education, where he trained at Ohio State University. He is considered the greatest athlete in South Asian Games history as well as the most decorated; with a total of 14 gold medals, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal. In Freestyle, he holds all of the national records except the 200m Freestyle which belongs to his younger brother, and he also holds the South Asian record in 100m and 200m Freestyle events. The first time Matthew represented Sri Lanka was at the 2010 Commonwealth Games where he broke the national record in the 400m Freestyle, becoming the youngest swimmer to be selected to the national team. He continued to swim in various international and national competitions, including FINA World Swimming Championships, World Aquatics Championships, Youth Commonwealth Games, and Asian Age Group Swimming Championships. In 2013, he competed at the Asian Youth Games where he won the Bronze in the 100m Freestyle, becoming the first Sri Lankan to win a medal at an Asian Games event. At the 2016 South Asian Games, Matthew won 7 gold medals, 2 silver and 1 bronze (total of 10 medals), breaking the record for most gold medal in South Asian Games by a Sri Lankan, previously held by Julian Bolling back in 1991. In 2016, Matthew competed at the Summer Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, competing in the 100m Freestyle with a time of 50.96 where he placed third in the heat. 

 At the 2019 South Asian games, he won 7 Golds and a Silver. He took part in the 100m Freestyle at the Tokyo Summer Olympics after receiving a universality invitation from FINA, clocking a time of 50.62 at the heat. 

Aniqah Gaffoor

Aniqah is a Sri Lankan swimmer who participated at the Tokyo Summer Olympics after receiving a universality invitation from FINA, where she swam in the Women’s 100m Butterfly with a time of 1:05.33. She represented Sri Lanka at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in South Korea where she competed in the women’s 50m Butterfly and 100m Butterfly events. She also won one Silver medal and one Bronze medal at the 2019 South Asian Games.