Dhammika Harischandra - the champion weightlifter among women!
by Upananda Jayasundera - Kandy Sports Spec. Corr.
Weightlifting they say is a man's sport, but M.M. Dhammika
Harischandra from Sri Lanka Air Force shows all of us that women can be
equally good at it. This champion from the Air Force Dhammika is one of
the most experienced 'lifters' and she came on stage in no uncertain
manner to set three new Sri Lanka records at the Defence Services
Weightlifting Championships.
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A winner all the way ... Dhammika Harischandra of Sri Lanka Air Force in
women’s Weightlifting. Pic: Upananda Jayasundera – Kandy
Sports Special Corr. |
Dhammika lifted 73 Kgs in Snatch and 90 Kgs in Clean and Jerk,
totalling 163 Kgs competing in the 75 Kgs weight category. Dhammika, an
old girl of Hureekaduwa Balika Maha Vidyalaya, Menikhinna also excelled
in athletics, coming on top in Discus Throw, Throwing the Javelin, she
also plays Netball, Volleyball, Baseball and also is a good cricketer
before taking to the tough sport of weightlifting under coach Athula
Wijewickrema in the year 2004.
Here are some of the achievements of Dhammika Harischandra in
weightlifting:
1.She won the Junior National Weightlifting Title in the 69 Kgs class
in 2004 2.She won the National Title in same weight class in 2005
establishing three new Sri Lanka records.
3.Dhammika went on to win same title in the same weight categories in
2006, 2007 and 2008.
4.Dhammika was placed 4th at the Commonwealth Weightlifting
Championships held in Penang, Malaysia in the contest held from October
17 to 24 in 2009 in the 85 Kgs weight category. Same year, she won the
National Sports Festival Weightlifting Title establishing records again
in different weight categories - I.e. 75 Kgs (snatch 71 Kgs, Clean and
Jerk 81 Kgs, totalling 152 Kgs) in the year 2009 at the National
Weightlifting Championships held at the University of Kelaniya on
December 17th 2009.
5.Then at the 36th National Sports Festival in 2010 she won the 75
Kgs weight category. She repeated her success in 2011 and 2012.
6.She won 3 Gold Medals at the 1st South Asian Games held in Nepal in
2012 with 2 new Sri Lanka Records (Clean and Jerk 88 Kgs, totalling 158
Kgs).
7.Right now, Dhammika Harischandra is training hard for the South
Asian Weightlifting Championships to be held in India later this year.
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