Dilshi Kumarasinghe

Dilshi Kumarasinghe
Personal information
Full nameKotambewaththe Gedara Dilshi Maheesha Shyamali Kumarasingha
Born (1999-05-11) 11 May 1999 (age 25)
Digana, Kandy District, Central Province, Sri Lanka
EducationDigana Rajawella Dharmasoka Junior School
Walala A. Rathnayaka Vidyalaya
Sport
SportAthletics
Event(s)400 m, 800 m, 4 × 400 metres relay
Coached bySusantha Fernando
Medal record
Representing  Sri Lanka
women's Athletics
South Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kathmandu 400m
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kathmandu 800m
Gold medal – first place 2019 Kathmandu 4×400m relay
South Asian Junior Athletic Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Colombo 400m
Gold medal – first place 2018 Colombo 800m
Gold medal – first place 2018 Colombo 4×400m relay
Asian Junior Athletics Championships
Silver medal – second place 2018 Gifu 400m
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gifu 800m
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gifu 4×400m relay

Kotambewaththe Gedara Dilshi Maheesha Shyamali Kumarasingha (Sinhala: කෝතම්බෙවත්ත ගෙදර දිල්ෂි මහීෂා ශ්‍යාමාලි කුමාරසිංහ) also simply known as K. G. D. M. S. Kumarasinghe or Dilshi Kumarasinghe (Sinhala: දිල්ෂි කුමාරසිංහ) aka Shyamali Kumarasinghe (born 11 May 1999) is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete and a national record holder in women's 800m.[1][2][3][4] She is currently coached by Susantha Fernando.

Biography

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Dilshi was born on 11 May 1999 in Digana, Kandy, Central Province as the only child in her family. Her father was a minor worker while her mother works in a garment factory.[5] She pursued her primary education at the Digana Rajawella Dharmasoka Junior School. She then moved to Walala A. Rathnayaka Vidyalaya in 2014 to pursue her secondary education after obtaining scholarship to study at Walala Central College with the assistance of her coach Susantha Fernando.[6]

Career

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Dilshi competed in the 100m and 200m events during school competitions at the Rajawella Junior School. After joining the Walala Central College in 2014, it was her athletic instructor Susantha Fernando who influenced her to specialise in the 400m and 800m events.[7] She also later joined the Sri Lankan Army with the support of her coach in order to continue her career in Athletics.[6]

She tasted her first international experience during the 2016 Asian Junior Athletics Championships which was held in Ho Chi Minh City, where she was placed 6th in the women's 800 meter finals. In June 2018, she participated at the 2018 Asian Junior Athletics Championships which was held in Gifu and claimed silver in the women's 400 meters event with a timing of 54.03 seconds and also claimed bronze medal in the women's 800 meters event with a timing of 2:04.53 seconds.[8] In addition, she also secured bronze medal in the 4 x 400 meter relay event.

She also took part at the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland competing in the women's 800 meters where she finished at 37th position and also competed in the 4 x 400 meter relay event where Sri Lanka finished at 19th position.[9][10] She also claimed gold medals in 400m, 800m and 400m relay events at the 2018 South Asian Junior Athletic Championships which was held in Colombo.[11] In April 2019, Kumarasinghe was part of the Sri Lankan 4 x 400 meter relay, which finished fourth at the 2019 Asian Athletics Championships at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha. During the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships on the final day of the competition, she along with Nadeesha Ramanayaka, Nimali Liyanarachchi and Upamalika Ratnakumari set the new Sri Lankan national record for 4 x 400 meter relay with a record timing of 3: 35.06 seconds.[12][13]

She made her maiden South Asian Games appearance representing Sri Lanka at the 2019 South Asian Games and became the most successful athlete for Sri Lanka during the competition, claiming three gold medals in athletic events (400m, 800m and 4×400m relay).[14][15][16]

She emerged as winner of the National Athletics Championships in December 2020 in the women's 800m category.[17] Her timing of 2:02.80 seconds after winning the 98th National Athletics Championships in the women's 800m final during December 2020 was also rated as the best time run by an Asian born athlete for the year 2020 as per the World Athletics statistics.[18]

On 9 April 2021, she clinched the national title for women's 800m and broke the Sri Lankan national record for women's 800m by finishing with record timing of 2:02.52 seconds during the National Athletics Trial 2021 (national qualifiers) which was held at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.[19][20][21][22][23] The 800m national record was previously held by Gayanthika Abeyrathne which was set during the 2017 National Athletics Trial. She won the national Selection Trial in 2021 in the women's 400m category.

International competitions

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Sri Lanka
2019 South Asian Games Kathmandu, Nepal 1st 400 m
1st 800 m
1st 4×400 m relay

Personal bests

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Outdoor

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athlétisme - Shyamali Kumarasinghe (Sri Lanka)". www.les-sports.info. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  2. ^ "Dilshi Kumarasinghe". Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portal | Fixtures | Results. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  3. ^ "Dilshi KUMARASINGHE | Profile". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  4. ^ "Kotambewaththe Gedara Dilshi Maheesha Shayamali Kumarasingha - Athlete Profile, Medals, Results, News, Photos and Videos". olympic.lk. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  5. ^ "Full-blown Dilshi a role model for shunned athletes". Sunday Observer. 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  6. ^ a b "Dilshi Kumarasinghe: eyes medal at Tokyo Olympics". Sunday Observer. 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  7. ^ Nadeera, Dilshan. "Susantha reveals key to success of Ratnayake Central". Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  8. ^ "Sri Lanka finish fifth at Asian Junior athletics". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  9. ^ "4 x 400 Metres Relay Women – Round 1 – Results" (PDF). IAAF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  10. ^ "800 Metres Women – Round 1 – Summary" (PDF). IAAF. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-07-10. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  11. ^ "Sri Lanka outsmarts India with new 400m record". Sunday Observer. 2018-05-05. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  12. ^ "4×400m Relay Final Results" (PDF). aac2019.com. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  13. ^ Qatar, Prince Gunasekara from Doha. "Women's relay team creates new SL record". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  14. ^ Kathmandu, Karuppiah Ramakrishan in. "Golden haul of nine lifts Sri Lanka to third position". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  15. ^ "Army's SAG winners felicitated". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  16. ^ "Sri Lanka wins gold in the women's 400m". Gold FM News. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  17. ^ Weerasooriya, Sahan. "Dilshi stamps her class with national record". Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  18. ^ Nadeera, Dilshan. "Producing a continent best time smiling". Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  19. ^ "New track record set by Dilshi Kumarasinghe". Hiru News. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  20. ^ Ratnaweera, Dhammika. "Dazzling Dilshi steals the limelight at Athletic Trials". Daily News. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  21. ^ "Dilshi Kumarasinghe sets new national record". www.adaderana.lk. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  22. ^ Nadeera, Dilshan. "Record breaking Dilshi set to climb up rankings". Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  23. ^ Nadeera, Dilshan. "National Athletics Championship disciplines prioritized for Olympic hopefuls". Retrieved 2021-05-17.
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