Shehan Ambepitiya is a name synonymous in track and field sports all over Sri Lanka who burned the track for 16 long years and was a fine sprinter during his young days.
He took the opportunity to bid farewell to the sport during the National Athletic Championship that was held last weekend at the Sugathadasa Stadium and announced his retirement after taking part in the 200 metres event which became a very sentimental occasion for him and many of his followers.
He won the 200m fourth heat in a time of 21.52 seconds which happened to be his last race.
The 30-year-old sprinter started his athletic career 16 years ago and shot to the limelight early in his career by dominating all sprint events.
When he began running he was a student of Janadipathi Vidyalaya in Kotte where he was coached by Nalin Witharana. After that he was guided by former Sri Lanka sprinter Sunil Gunawardena who changed his history. It was Gunawardena who had spotted Ambepitiya’s talent when he switched over to Gateway International School in Kotte.
“For 13 of the 16 years of my athletic career I competed at international level. I was named as the fastest athlete in South Asia when I was competing in the junior category. I was also the second fastest junior athlete in Asia and the seventh fastest junior athlete in the World,” said Ambepitiya.
Ambepitiya is the only Sri Lankan Triple Gold Medallist at the Commonwealth Youth Games. He achieved this feat at the 2008 championships held in New Delhi, India, recording three New Meet records in the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m events.
Ambepitiya’s stellar performances have been seen throughout the international arena in the Asia region. In 2009 he won gold medals at all three legs of the Asian Grand Prix in Hong Kong.
Apart from the Olympics he has taken part in all other track and field championships and brought honour to Sri Lanka.
“I won three gold medals for Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Games. No one has beaten that record up to now,” noted Ambepitiya.
Ambepitiya is a very silent in character but was very active on the track. He was a regular member of the men’s relay team for the past few years and was able to steer his team with an impressive performance at the Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia.
The 4x100m team comprised Himasha Eshan, Vinoj Suranjaya, Ashraf Latiff and himself. He was the captain of the relay team.
This dream team recorded a time of 39.38 seconds to surpass a National record established by the same team back in 2015.
Everything has an end, but this is not the end for Ambepitiya. This may be a beginning of new things to come as he hopes to give back to the sport by joining its administration in the future. He has already obtained a Master of Business Administration from the University of West London.