Aruna Dharshana Creates Olympic History, Fastest Athletes In Paris 2024, All Run 100 M Under 10 Secs

Aruna Dharshana qualified for the Men’s 400 M Semi Final in Paris, France – hence becoming the first to do so in Olympic Games history for Sri Lanka in this event. Running in Lane 09 in Heat 05, he clocked a personal best 44.99 sec to finish 03rd, confirmed after a photo finish. He entered the event with a World Ranking of 51st & was placed 17th out of 44 starters after his record breaking performance. He was steady on the back stretch after a confident start, and coming off the bend into the home stretch, maintained his composure
to give off his best in the last quarter of the distance. That he ran in the outer lane also probably assisted him, as he saw all the others in the race towards the finish.

Athletics : Men – 100 M
Gold – Noah Lyles ( USA ) 9.79 sec
Silver – Kishane Thompson ( Jamaica )
Bronze – Fred Kerley ( USA )

All 08 finalists finished under 10 secs – the first time that was recorded in the event in Olympic history. This was also breaking the monopoly of Jamaica winning the event in the form of the greatest sprinter of all time Usain Bolt, after 12 years.

Women – High Jump
Gold – Ukraine,
Silver – Australia,
Bronze – Ukraine

Archery : Men – Individual
Gold – Wooseok Lee – South Korea
Silver – Brady Ellison – USA
Bronze – Woojin Kim – South Korea

Artistic Gymnastics : Women – Uneven Bars
Gold – Algeria,
Silver – China,
Bronze – USA

Men – Rings
Gold – China,
Silver – China,
Bronze – Great Britain

Men – Vault
Gold – Philippines,
Silver – Armenia,
Bronze – Great Britain

Basketball : Women – Group Stage
Australia bt France 79 – 72
Nigeria bt Canada 79 – 70
Belgium bt Japan 85 – 58
USA bt Germany 87 – 68

3×3 Basketball : Men – Pool Stage
France bt China 21 – 12
Latvia bt Poland 22 – 16
Lithuania bt Serbia 20 – 18
Netherlands bt USA 21 – 06

Cycling : Women – Road Race
Gold – Kristen Faulkner – USA
Silver – Marianne Vos – Netherlands
Bronze – Lotte Kopecky – Belgium

Equestrian : Dressage Individual GP Freestyle
Gold – Germany,
Silver – Germany,
Bronze – Great Britain

Fencing : Men – Foil Team
Gold – France, Silver – Italy, Bronze – Japan

Golf : Men – Individual Stroke Play
Gold – Scottie Scheffler – USA 19 under par 265
Silver – Tommy Fleetwood – GBR 18 under par 266
Bronze – Hideki Matsuyama – Japan 17 under par 267

Hockey : Men – Quarter Final
India bt Great Britain 4 – 2 on Penalty Shootout ( 1 – 1 )
Netherlands bt Australia 2 – 0
Germany bt Argentina 3 – 2
Spain bt Belgium 3 – 2

Shooting : Women – Skeet
Gold – Chile,
Silver – Great Britain,
Bronze – USA

Swimming : Women – 50 M Freestyle
Gold – Sarah Sjoestroem – Sweden Current World & Olympic Records holder
Silver – Australia,
Bronze – China

Women – 4 x 100 M Medley Relay
Gold – USA 03 min 49.63 secs World Record
Silver – Australia, Bronze – China

Men – 4 x 100 M Medley Relay
Gold – China,
Silver – USA,
Bronze – France

Men – 1500 M Freestyle
Gold – Bobby Finke – USA 14 min 30 67 sec
World Record Silver – Italy, Bronze – Ireland

Table Tennis : Men – Singles
Gold – Zhendong Fan – China
Silver – Truls Moregard – Sweden
Bronze – Felix Lebrun – France

Tennis : Women – Doubles
Gold – Italy,
Silver – Neutral,
Bronze – Spain

Men – Singles
Gold – Noval Djokovic – Japan
Silver – Carlos Alcaraz – Spain
Bronze – Lorenzo Musetti – Italy

Volleyball : Women – Pool Stage
USA bt France 3 – 0,
China bt Serbia 3 – 1,
Italy bt Turkey 3 – 0,
Brazil bt Poland 3 – 0

Water Polo : Women – Group Stage
Greece bt France 11 – 04
Netherlands bt Canada 20 – 11
Australia bt Hungary 14 – 12 on Penalty Shootout ( 09 – 09 )

Philippines have won 02 Gold Medals in Artistic Gymnastics – Floor Exercise & Vault for Men. Refugee Team Flag Bearer, Cindy Ngamba has secured the first ever Olympic Medal for a Refugee competitor.

On the initiation of Maxwell de Silva – Secretary General, National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka, Tharushi Karunaratne was requested to donate some of her personal belongings to the Olympic Museum. The young & upcoming lass donated her Paris 2024 compétition attire to Anne – Cecile Jaccard, Manager – Senior Exhibitions & Programmes, at the Olympic Museum office situated at the Athletes Village. She was accompanied by Chandana Liyanage – Chief de Mission, Team Sri Lanka for Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This is the first time ever such an important / invaluable / rare opportunity has been bestowed on a Sri Lankan athlete. It is also a magnanimous gesture from the International Olympic Committee to recognize the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka with this course of action. The Asian Youth Games, Asian Track & Field & Asian Games current Champion in Women’s 800 M, will have her competition attire at her maiden Olympics, also duly signed by her, displayed at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland where the IOC Headquarters is located. It is also reported that Tharushi Karunaratne will receive a Certificate of Acceptance, signed by the IOC President, Thomas Bach in due course. It will also be of great importance & satisfaction to the Sri Lanka Athletics Association, who has nurtured & guided this talented individual to great heights that she has scaled up to now. The Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka met with the President of the International Olympic Committee at the opening of the French House in Paris last week. Mr. Maxwell De Silva has made another invitation regarding the long overdue visit to Sri Lanka. Mr. Thomas Bach has reportedly emphasised the importance of getting the Sports Law amended & wished Team Sri Lanka well at the Games of Paris 2024.

Haritha Perera in Paris, France facilitated by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka

Photos courtesy NOCSL Media & Sporty.lk