Over 2,500 athletes for Relay Carnival 2007

Bernard Perera

ATHLETICS: The Relay Carnival organised by the Ministry of Education and conducted by the Sri Lanka School Athletic Association and Sri Lanka Athletic Association will commence today at the Sugathadasa Stadium and will continue till Sunday.

This year a total of 152 schools are billed to compete in six different age groups u-12, 13, 14, 16, 18 and 20 in the boys and girls sections.

There will also be twelve men’s and seven women’s teams too will be seen competing for Relay supremacy in the open category. These details were disclosed by Maj. General Palitha Fernando who is also the President of the Sri Lanka Athletic Association.

In addition the Decathlon for Boys and the Heptathlon for Girls too will be worked off alongside the Relay Carnival.

General Fernando said that this year the Open Night Race for men and women will not be held during this period and it is scheduled for mid August.

He further added the over 2,500 athletes will compete during three days of competition.

The Boys Decathlon has attracted athletes from fourteen leading schools from all parts of the country.

Meanwhile six girls school have entered twelve athletes for the Heptathlon.

There will be twenty competitors participating in the Boys Decathlon.

General Fernando said that the Relay Carnival was one of the Biggest events in the Athletic Calender in the past four to five decades.

There were instances where they could not hold this event due to various reasons.

He also said that the Education Department was instrumental in organising this event in the past which gave the opportunity for young ones to show their talents at a higher level.

This made things easy for sports governing body to find new talent to develop them to reach national level. Some of them who came to limelight even have reached the international level, he said.

So this Relay Carnival has become a stepping stone for aspiring athletes.

Sri Lanka Athletic Association will go all out to make this a successful one while taking this opportunity to find new talent for which the Ministry of Sports giving back up support to develop these young athletes to reach great heights in the athletic arena.

General thanked the Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel for coming forward to sponsor the event for second successive year.

Chief Marketing Officer Mobitel Nalin Perera expressing his views on the event said Mobitel wants to join hands with local sports as it is purely a Sri Lankan Company. It has become a must for the company.

We came forward to sponsor the event last year and we saw very successful event completed. That was the reason why we made it a point to continue with the sponsorship.

We hope to continue this for the future too, he said.

Perera thanked the organisers for giving them the opportunity to be partners of this event.

Perera also requested the media to give the maximum coverage for the event as it will encourage the young ones who are competing at a higher level.

Their achievements need publicity if we are to keep them on the track.

Media has a vital role to play here, concluded Perera.

Earlier General Fernando said that all arrangements are kept ready to accommodate outstation athletes.