Another personal best time of 23.95 seconds in the 200 metres by Medhani Jayamanne could only make her finish fourth in the semi-finals at the World Junior Athletic Championship that continued in Nairobi, Kenya on Friday (20).
She failed to qualify for the final.
Earlier in the day, Jayamanne clocked her personal best of 24.01 seconds in her heat to advance to the semi-finals finishing third in the event.
Nevertheless, Medhani now finds herself as the fastest Sri Lankan women athlete in the distance since 2018. She is also Sri Lanka’s all time third fastest behind Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Darsha.
Meanwhile, middle distance runner Tharushi Karunaratne finished eighth in the semi-final of the 800m event.
The 17-year old Tharushi who hails from A. Ratnayaka CC Walala, finished fourth in a previous heat clocking 2 minutes 10.07 seconds and the disqualification of Cuban athlete Dailey Cooper meant she was elevated to third place to earn a direct qualification.
Three of the top athletes from each heat earned direct qualification to the semi-finals. (TBR)