South Asia’s fastest man and golden boy of the track Yupun Abeykoon and 400m sprinter Aruna Darshana will be locked in a ‘wildcard duel’ to see which one of them books their ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics, President of Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) Retired General Palitha Fernando told The Daily Morning Sports.

He said Abeykoon is still on the fence with regard to booking his berth at the Summer Games, as another elite local athlete 400m sprinter Aruna Darshana is also in the fray, as both of them had failed to gain direct qualification to the event.

Fernando however confirmed that one of the duo will make it through to the French capital, following the compilation of the final list of elite athletes from the world over who have qualified for the Paris showpiece, which is due to be released by World Athletics (WA) later this week.

Reportedly only two wildcards are issued by the World Athletics (WA), if those countries fail to qualify for an event directly or via the points system formulated by them for elite athletes.

It was not immediately clear as to which two events had been recommended by the SLA to the WA for their wildcard entries, but judging by the stance of the SLA President they seems to have suggested the 100m and 400m events respectively.  

Italy-based Abeykoon’s hopes of direct qualification to his second consecutive Olympic Games were dashed when he reportedly pulled out of the SLA Special Selection Trials held in Diyagama on Sunday (30 June).

The Birmingham (2022) Commonwealth Games Bronze Medalist did not compete in the 100m event following a leg injury he had developed during the 102nd SLA Senior National Championships held at the same venue last week.

The SLA President added that like Abeykoon who arrived in the country to participate in a local meet for the first time in five years, Aruna Darshana too has failed to obtain direct qualification to the Games due to start late this month.

According to him both Abeykoon and Darshana’s chances will hinge on the wildcard entries that are entertained by World Athletics as several competition results from around the world are yet to be updated by the WA.  

He noted that timings recorded by the two sprinters in any international event before next Sunday (7) will be taken into account by the sport’s world controlling body ahead of finalising the list of wildcard entries.

Meanwhile, The SLA President said that two other elite athletes, female javelin thrower Dilhani Lekamge and women’s 800m runner Tharushi Karunarathna were also fighting hard to gain direct qualification to the upcoming event. 

(JK)