Sri Lankan athletes came up last in both events of the 9th Asian Winter Games 2025 held in Harbin, China over the weekend. 

The National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka had opted to send a team of four athletes, with three of them residing abroad.

The only female of the team, Romania-based Piyumi Priyadarshani, finished last in the 5km cross-country skiing event, clocking 34 minutes and 00.8 seconds. 

She was 21 minutes behind the winner, China’s Jialin Bayani (12:07.5), and 12 minutes behind the 33rd athlete, 16-year-old Madina Saralaeva of Kazakhstan (22:17.1).

In the men’s 10km cross-country skiing event, the trio of Sri Lankan male athletes finished in the last three spots with over a 30-minute gap between them and the winner.

Norway-based Danushka Bandara finished at position 44, clocking 51 minutes and 15.7 seconds, while the winner, Haruki Yamashita of Japan, clocked 21 minutes and 06.5 seconds, a gap of 30 minutes.

The 43rd athlete, Tang Wei Yan of Malaysia, clocked 39 minutes and 12.1 seconds, with Bandara finishing 11 minutes behind.

Meanwhile, Canada-based Shehan Muthugala finished at position 45, clocking 1 hour, 9 minutes, and 44.6 seconds, 48 minutes after the winner and 30 minutes after  Wei Yan at the 43rd place.

Team leader Sajeeva de Silva finished last, clocking 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 03.4 seconds, 50 minutes after the winner and 33 minutes after Wei Yan.