Samith Fernando of Army SC equalled the national record in the men’s shot putt which was set last year by Samith Jayawardena in the 97th National Athletic Champioship worked off at the Sugadathasa Stadium yesterday.
Fernando threw 16.23 metres and won the gold.
Defending gold medalist Samith Jayawardena secured the second place with a distance of 15.88 while AJD Perera took third place with 15.08 meters.
In another development Sprinter Shehan Ambeptiya ended his track and field career at the meet.
He famously won triple gold medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games Games in 2008 and also became the only Sri Lankan to compete at finals of the IAAF World Junior Championship.
In the men’s 100M Himsha Eshan of the Army won the gold in 10.49 seconds while Vinod Suranjaya (Army) clocked 10.49 and Priyadarshana Abeykoon (Army) made the run in 10.52.
Defending South Asian Games Champion, Rumeshika Ratnayake was injured during the 100m final which Lakshika Sugathi won clocking 12.08 seconds. (KR)