As Sri Lanka eagerly awaits its first medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, top athlete Aruna Darshana is set to compete in the Men’s 400m semi-finals tonight (06).
Darshana will race in semi-final 02, scheduled to begin at 11:12 p.m. (IST). He will be competing against athletes from Argentina, South Africa, Italy, Zambia, the United States, Botswana, and Grenada.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the top two athletes from each semi-final heat, along with the next two fastest overall, will advance to the event’s final.
The 25-year-old Sri Lankan sprinter secured his spot in the semi-finals on Sunday (04) by finishing third in his heat with a personal best time of 44.99 seconds. Darshana recently demonstrated his exceptional talent by winning the Men’s 400m event at the 2nd Belt and Road Invitational Athletics Championship in China.
Many have compared Darshana to former Sri Lankan athlete Sugath Thilakaratne, with expectations high for him to follow in Thilakaratne’s footsteps. Darshana first gained national attention by winning the Men’s 400m event at the 2018 National Athletics Championships, clocking a time of 46.16 seconds.
