The 99th National Athletic Championship has been rescheduled for May 20 to 23 at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) announced the new dates for the Nationals following the cancellation of the 24th Asian Athletics Championship 2021.
The Asian Athletics Championship 2021 was set to be held from May 20 to 23 in Hangzhou, China. The next edition of the Asian Athletics Championship will be held in Pattaya, Thailand in 2023.
National Athletics Coach Y. K. Kularatne said that Sri Lanka Athletics had earlier decided to conduct the National Championship from April 7 to 10. However, with the Asian Athletics Meet cancelled, SLA has now decided to conduct the new selection trails for the Nationals from April 7 to 10 at the Sugathadasa Stadium.
SLA successfully conducted the 98th National Championships last December according to the health regulations and that was a good opportunity for the local athletes to make a comeback with their performances.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic several International events were postponed including the Asian Youth Athletic Championship, Asian Martial Art and Beach Games and the Asian Athletic Championship.
Meanwhile, SLA is currently on the lookout for more competitions for Sri Lanka’s top athletes, especially in the European Circuit, which will be beneficial to boost their World Ranking Points.
With the new World Ranking System coming into play for Olympic slots, many top athletes are also on the lookout for competition in the European Circuit.
The selection trial for the Nationals will be the first event for the local athletics in 2021.
With the new points system athletes can collect a total of 100 points from the Nationals which are vital for Olympic qualification.
