Tharaka Bandara Samarakoon is a Grade 13 student of Dharmaraja College, Kandy who is following his studies in the Commerce Stream and is a talented Athlete who started Athletics when he was a student at Isipathana College,Colombo from Grade.I to Grade 4. He won the 75 metres race at this School when he was in the Grade.4 Class and he had to change his school as his father was attached to the Survey Department and his second school was Christ Church College, Matale.
Tharaka continued his athletic prowess and he won the Long Jump and secured the second place in 75 metres and100 metres. races at the Central Province Athletic Meet and he was adjudged the Best Athlete in field events. His coach was S. Srikantha of Christ Church College and from there he joined St.Thomas’ College, Matale to the Grade 8 class in 2011 and continued his pet sport of athletics under the coaching of Indika Gallage.
Tharaka improved his performances in athletics at St. Thomas’ when he won the All Island Schools Merit Award in Long Jump in 2012 and at the Zonal Meet as an Under 11 athlete. Again he won the 75 metres. 100 metres and Long Jump events in the same year and the next year as an under 13 athlete he won 100 metres, 200 metres and Long Jump at the Zonal Meet.
In both age groups i.e. Under 11 and Under 13 he was adjudged the Best Athlete and he showed his outstanding ability when he won his pet event of Long Jump at the Central Province Meet. In 2014 he became first in Long Jump at the Under 15 age category covering a distance of 5.60 metres and in 2015 he won the Long Jump event in the Under 17 covering a distance of 5.99 metres. in the same Meet. In the year 2017 he created a meet record of 6.21 metres. from 2014 to 2017 when he was adjudged the Best Athlete in Field Events. At the All Island Athletic Meet he won a merit award for Long Jump and the 200 metres. race at the Under 15 level and at Under 17 and Under 18 age groups he was among the Best eight in Long Jump in the whole Island. Tharaka finished in ninth place in the Under 20 age group in Long Jump but he covered an impressive distance of 6.76 metres. He joined Dharmaraja College,Kandy to do higher studies in the Commerce Stream at the G.C.E. (A/L) class and continued athletics under the coaching of Chandana Abeyratne. Tharaka became first in Long Jump covering a distance of 6.50 metres. to create a new Meet Record at the Central Province Athletic Meet in 2019 and he was also a member of the successful relay team at the Henry Steel Olcott Memorial Relay Carnival in 2019.
