LNP - Ushan Thiwanka sets new Sri Lanka and South Asia high jump record

USA-based Sri Lankan athlete Ushan Thiwanka Perera has set a new South Asian and Sri Lankan high jump record at the 2021 Lone Star Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, in Texas. The 23-year-old, who represents Texas A&M University-Commerce, set the record with a jump of 2.30 meters to lace first in the Men’s High Jump event at the outdoor championships. The former schoolboy of Maris Stella College, who left the country on a scholarship last year to Texas A&M University-Commerce, is presently training and following his higher studies in Texas. In March this year, Thiwanka had broken the long-standing Sri Lanka high jump record of 2.27m which was set by Manjula Kumara Wijesekera in 2004 and equaled in 2005. He had also previously set a new Sri Lanka indoor high jump record of 2.26m. Thiwanka started his athletics career at Karunaratne Buddhist School at Ragama and was able to develop his skills at Maris Stella College under the guidance of his coach Sanarath Fernando.