Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to provide prize money of Rs. 10 million to Tharushi Karunaratne, who won the Gold in the women’s 800m event at the ongoing 19th Asian Games.

The 19-year-old on Wednesday (Oct. 04) clocked a time of 2.03.20 minutes in women’s 800m event to clinch the Gold medal at the continental multi-sport event being held in Hangzhou, China.

The national cricket governing board commended Karunarathna for her arduous yet persistent efforts and for making history by winning the first Asian Games athletics Gold medal for the country after 21 years.

Earlier, the Sri Lankan sprinter also set an Asian record and a national record at the 2023 Asian Athletics Championship held in Bangkok, Thailand, finishing the event with a timing of 2:00:06 minutes.

Karunarathna holds the record for both 400m and 800m events at the All-Island School Games 2019 while being the Gold medalist for both events. She also holds the record for the 800m at the Sir John Tarbat Senior Championships 2019 and is the Gold medalist for both the 400m and 800m events. She was awarded the best female athlete under 16 at the provincial meet in 2019.

Meanwhile, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has conveyed his heartfelt congratulations to Karunaratne after personally reaching out to the young sprinter by telephone this morning (Oct. 05) to acknowledge her exceptional talents and accomplishments.

He has also emphasized that the entire nation takes immense pride in her remarkable international achievement, the President’s Media Division (PMD) said.

Furthermore, President Wickremesinghe has expressed his anticipation of meeting Karunaratne in person upon her return to the country.