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World Athletics to award prize money at Olympics

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World Athletics has announced it will become the first international federation to award prize money at the Olympic Games.

The global governing body said a total prize pot of $2.4m (£1.9m) has been made available for this summer’s Olympics in Paris, with gold medallists receiving $50,000 (£39,400).

This will be extended to silver and bronze medallists at Los Angeles 2028.

World Athletics president Lord Coe called the decision a “pivotal moment”.He told BBC Sport the organisation wanted to create a “stable financial landscape” for athletes.

There will be 48 athletics events in Paris, with relay gold medallists to share their prize money among the team.

The prize money will not apply at the Paralympics, which takes place from 28 August to 8 September, as Para-athletics is governed by World Para Athletics.

“The introduction of prize money for Olympic gold medallists is a pivotal moment for World Athletics and the sport of athletics as a whole, underscoring our commitment to empowering the athletes and recognising the critical role they play in the success of any Olympic Games,” Coe said.

“While it is impossible to put a marketable value on winning an Olympic medal, or on the commitment and focus it takes to even represent your country at an Olympic Games, I think it is important we start somewhere and make sure some of the revenues generated by our athletes at the Olympic Games are directly returned to those who make the Games the global spectacle that it is.”

Greg Rutherford, who won gold in the long jump at London 2012, said: “This is a brilliant step in the right direction and I take my hat off to Seb Coe and the rest of the World Athletics staff for initiating this improvement.”

The former British athlete said the view that Olympic sports are still amateur “couldn’t be further from the truth”.

Asked if prize money went against the Olympic spirit, Coe replied: “I don’t see that making life a little easier for the athletes, allowing them maybe to stay on in the sport a little bit longer, to give them the financial independence to train, and maybe in a more sophisticated way is anything other than sitting behind good firm Olympic principles.”

World Athletics said the format and structure of prize money for the 2028 Games will be announced nearer the time.

It added that the payment of prize money will depend on athletes “undergoing and clearing the usual anti-doping procedures”.

Given the Olympics’ origins as an amateur sports event, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not award prize money but distributes funding through international federations (IF) and national Olympic committees (NOC).

Some national Olympic committees offer financial rewards to their medallists, though the British Olympic Association does not.

The IOC said: “It is up to each IF and NOC to determine how to best serve their athletes and the global development of their sport.”

(BBC News)

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Ratnayakes conquer Tri-Nation final

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Sri Lanka ‘A’ secured a dominant victory over Ireland ‘A’ to clinch the title in their Tri-Nation Cricket final played at Abu Dhabi yesterday (April 25).

Batting first, Ireland ‘A’ were bowled out for just 200 runs in 47.3 overs.

In reply, Sri Lanka ‘A’ were in dire straits losing half of the side for just 43 runs. However, Pavan Rathnayake and Milan Rathnayake salvaged the innings, adding a match-winning unbeaten partnership worth 160 runs for the 6th wicket, sealing victory with 15.3 overs to spare.

Pavan scored 77 runs off 76 balls with 09 fours and 02 sixes while Milan hit 77 runs off 83 balls with 09 fours and 02 sixes.

Milan Rathnayake was named Player of the Final for his all-round performance, having also claimed 3 wickets for just 24 runs in the Irish innings.

Tharindu Rathnayake also stood out, taking 04 wickets for 33 runs in a key performance.

It is singular that all three Rathnayake players – Milan, Pawan, and Tharindu -were key contributors towards SL ‘A’s victory.

The team was captained by Sadeera Samarawickrama, with Avishka Gunawardene serving as head coach.

(Special reporter from Abu Dhabi ; 

Sponsored by: Sri Lankan Airlines)

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SL ranks 9th at U18 Asian Youth Athletics C’ships

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Sri Lanka won another silver medal in the U18 Asian Youth Athletics Championships held in Saudi Arabia, this time in the women’s mixed relay event.

The Sri Lankan athletes clocked 2:14.25 minutes, setting a Sri Lankan youth record.

China claimed the gold medal with a time of 2:11:11 minutes, while Thailand won the bronze with a time of 2:15:00 minutes.

The four-day competition, organized by the Asian Athletics Federation, concluded yesterday (April 18) in Qatif.

Sri Lanka finished 9th in the overall medal standings,  with a total of eight medals — one gold, three silver, and four bronze. It was also one of only 19 countries to win at least one medal.

China topped the overall medal standings with 19 gold, 12 silver and 5 bronze medals while Japan came in second with 3 gold, 3 silver and one bronze medal.

Host Saudi Arabia came in third place with 3 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals.

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Dasun Shanaka gets IPL call up

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Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka has received a call-up to join the Gujarat Titans in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, replacing the injured Glenn Phillips.

The Gujarat Titans, captained by Shubman Gill, have signed Shanaka for INR 7.5 million (over LKR 25 million).

Shanaka has played only one season of the IPL so far, when he got three games for GT, scored only 26 runs and didn’t get to bowl at all two seasons ago.

Phillips had picked up a groin injury while fielding against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad just over ten days ago, and was later ruled out of the tournament to head back home to New Zealand.

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