Gampola’s ‘triplets’ among the star performers

by Upananda JAYASUNDERA - Kandy Sports Special Corr

ATHLETICS: At the Central Province Athletic Championships held at the Bogambara Stadium, there was somewhat of a unique happening. The special feature was the participation of triplets in the under 21 age group. They were students of St. Joseph’s College, Gampola.

The triplets - Thakshila, Wathsala and Sakunthala Karunathilake. It is on record that the triplets were born on February 15th 1992 with a difference of five minutes between each other.

Having come into this world, the triplets seemed determined to make their presence felt in a determined manner.

Participating in athletics is something that is not difficult if there is the determination - and determination was there in this threesome. Years rolled by and the Karunathilake triplets took a fancy to athletics and it is in that sport that these triplets have excelled.

The Central Province Athletic Championships that has just been concluded has been the meet that the three girls made their presence felt. At the Bogambara Stadium, the girls came off with some fine performances that made close followers of athletics take note of them.

They became the toast of St. Joseph’s College, Gampola as their fine performances enabled them to become champions in the girls events collecting 87 points. Here’s how the story goes. Eldest of the trio - Thakshila won the long jump, Wathsala got second place in 400 metres hurdles and the youngest Sakunthala won the 400 metres flat race - and what more - with a record timing of 60.2 seconds!

That’s not all - all three participated in the 4 x 100 and 4 x 400 metres relay teams that won. The fourth runner was Hansika Wathsaramalee.