Sri Lanka’s Tharushi Karunarathna, the gold medallist in the 800m event at the Hangzhou Asian Games, set a new Asian continental record in the Women’s 600m at the Bilbao International Invitational Track and Field Athletic Meet.
Competing in the Women's 600m for the first time, Karunarathna finished with a time of 1:24.84, securing second place. This performance broke the previous continental record of 1:28.06, held by Japan's Ayano Shomi since 2022.
The Bilbao meet served as a preparation event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Bender Oboya of Australia won the event with a time of 1:24.53, while Maria de Lima of Brazil came in third, clocking 1:25.34.
In the Men’s 400m event, Kalinga Kumarage of Sri Lanka finished third with a time of 45.91.
Despite participating in seven international meets, no Sri Lankan athlete has yet qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
