Abeykoon Mudiyansalage Yupun Priyadarshana, known as Yupun Abeykoon, also referred to as Yupun Priyadarshana (born 31 December 1994) is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete and a national record holder in men's 100m, men's 200m and in men's indoor 60m. He currently resides in Italy as he went on a scholarship to Italy in 2015. He is also attached to the Electronic and Mechanical Engineering Regiment of the Sri Lanka Army and represents Army Sports Club. He is currently regarded as the fastest Sri Lankan man as well as fastest South Asian man in men's 100m and 200m disciplines. On 3 July 2022, he became the first South Asian to break the

10-Second barrier The 10-second barrier is the physical and psychological barrier of completing the 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds. The achievement is traditionally regarded as the hallmark of a world-class male sprinter. Its significance has become less i ...

for the men's 100 meters event at the Resisprint International competition, with a timing of 9.96 seconds, in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city loc ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Abeykoon is also the first and only Sri Lankan to have competed at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

. In April 2022, he set the new Asian record in the men's 150m by clocking 15.16 seconds. On 22 May 2022 at a meeting held at the Stadio Zecchini, Grosseto in Italy he won the men's 200 meters event setting a new national record of 20.37 seconds. On 25 May 2022 at an event held at the Paul-Greifzu-Stadion,

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

in Germany he won the men's 100 meters setting a new national record of 10.06 seconds.

Biography

Abeykoon was born in Negombo, Western Province near Pannala. He pursued his primary education at the Pannala National School, where he also pursued his interest in track and field events. He began his interest in athletics after being inspired from veteran Olympic medalist

Susanthika Jayasinghe Deshabandu Kameradin Susanthika Jayasinghe ( si, සුසන්තිකා ජයසිංහ; Tamil: சுசந்திகா ஜயசிங்ஹ, born December 17, 1975) is a Sri Lankan retired sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and ...

. Abeykoon began pursuing his athletics career in 2004 when his teachers picked him at a school meet. He later switched to the St. Joseph Vaz College, Wennepuwa at the age of 16 with the recommendation of his personal coach. Abeykoon also follows

MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

. Prior to his living in Italy, his father had worked in a holiday villa in Italy for some time.

Career

Abeykoon represented Sri Lanka at the 2013 South Asian Junior Athletics Championships which was held in Ranchi and finished fourth in the men's triple jump competition. He later switched from triple jump to sprint events due to the influence of his coaches. Abeykoon competed at the

2015 Military World Games The 2015 Military World Games ( ko, 2015년 세계 군인 체육 대회, Icheon sip-o nyeon segye gun-in cheyuk daehoe, 2015 World Military Sports Festival), officially known as the 6th CISM Military World Games ( ko, 제6회 세계 군인 체육 ...

representing Sri Lanka and took bronze medal in men's relay event. He underwent training at Fiammegialle Sports Centre in Italy when he was on his scholarship in Italy. Abeykoon began training with former Italian 400m runner and Olympian Claudio Licciardello during his stay in Italy. Abeykoon also represented

Sri Lanka at the 2019 South Asian Games Sri Lanka competed in the 2019 South Asian Games in Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepal from 1 to 10 December 2019. Cricket Sri Lanka sent under-23 teams to participate in both the men's and women's events by sending U23 teams. He was also part of the team consisting of

Chanuka Sandeepa or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...

Himasha Eashan Himasha Eshan Waththakankanamge is a Sri Lankan sprint athlete specializing in the 200 and 100 metres. He studied at the Kalutara Vidyalaya. He held the South Asian and Sri Lankan records in the 100 m sprint with the time of 10.26 seconds, until ...

and

Vinoj Suranjaya Vinoj Suranjaya De Silva Muthumuni also simply known as Vinoj De Silva or Vinoj Suranjaya (born 9 January 1995) is a Sri Lankan track and field athlete and a national record holder in men's 200m. Career He made his South Asian Games debut re ...

which set new national and South Asian Games record in men's 4 × 100 m relay event during the 2019 South Asian Games. On 8 September 2020, Abeykoon shattered the South Asian record as well as national record held by

in men's 100m event with a timing of 10.16 seconds after winning an athletic competition which was held in

, Germany. He surpassed the previous best of 10.22 held by compatriot

. Abeykoon earned the nickname "South Asia's fastest man" after breaking the South Asian record in the men's 100m event. On 26 September 2020, Abeykoon claimed a bronze medal in the men's 100m event with a timing of 10.24 seconds at the Gala dei Castelli as a part of the World Athletics Bronze Level Series Meet which was held in Switzerland. His bronze medal achievement during the 2020 Gala dei Castelli made him the first Sri Lankan sprinter after the 1990s to be placed among the top three in a running event when running alongside top European and African sprinters. In January 2021, Abeykoon renewed his own personal and national Sri Lanka 60m indoor record with a timing of 6.59 seconds at the Italian indoor championship. He surpassed his own national indoor record of 6.78 seconds which he achieved in 2017. On 13 May 2021, he renewed his own personal as well as the national record for men's 100m event by clocking at 10.15 seconds which he set during the Meeting di Savona Championship in Italy. In the same month, he bettered his own personal record in the men's 100m event by clocking at 10.09 seconds which he achieved in the 100m final at the Anhalt 2021 competition which was held in

, Germany. In June 2021, he skipped the World Athletic Continental Madrid Meet in Spain despite it being one of the Olympic qualifying competitions. As of June 2021, Abeykoon reached his career-best world ranking of 48 following a fourth-place finish in the men's 100 event at the

Golden Gala Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pie ...

as part of the

2021 Diamond League The 2021 Diamond League, also known as the 2021 Wanda Diamond League for sponsorship reasons, is the twelfth season of the Diamond League, annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The 2021 season sees an inc ...

Meet at

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

(Florence Diamond League). He also became the first Sri Lankan to compete at the

. He was ranked in 65th position in the Road to Olympic Rankings prior to competing at the Rome Diamond League. In the same month Abeykoon also qualified to represent Sri Lanka at the 2020 Summer Olympics, which was also his maiden Olympic appearance, and competed in the men's 100m event. He was also the first and only Sri Lankan to achieve direct qualification standards for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. Abeykoon also became the first Sri Lankan to obtain direct qualification for the 100m event at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, 25 years after Chintaka de Zoysa's direct qualification at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. Abeykoon also became the first South Asian sprinter in 32 years to qualify for the men's 100m event at the Olympics. He was also the only Sri Lankan male track and field athlete to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. On 31 July 2021, he completed his 100m race with a timing of 10.32 seconds in the Tokyo Olympics and was ranked sixth in the heat event and thus failed to qualify for the next round. In August 2021, he was named as Sri Lanka's flagbearer by the

National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (IOC code: SRI) is the National Olympic Committee representing Sri Lanka. It is also the body responsible for Sri Lanka's representation at the Commonwealth Games. See also *Sri Lanka at the Olympics *Sri ...

for the closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics. In September 2021, Abeykoon competed in the

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich ( en, World Class Zurich) is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF G ...

which was part of the 2021 Diamond League, and was placed at ninth position with a timing of 10.25 seconds in the men's 100m final. This was also his second Diamond League meet appearance after previously competing at the Golden Gala meet. On 24 April 2022, Abeykoon broke the Asian record in the men's 150m event with a timing of 15.16 seconds to claim gold medal in the Perseo Trophy which was held at the

Stadio Raul Guidobaldi Stadio Raul Guidobaldi is an athletics stadium located in Rieti, Italy. Every year since 1971 the stadium hosts the Rieti Meeting; it also hosted the 2013 European Athletics Junior Championships. The stadium is notable for being the location where ...

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

, Italy. The previous Asian record for men's 150m event was held by Japan's

Yoshihide Kiryu Yoshihide is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Yoshihide can be written using many different combinations of kanji characters. Here are some examples: *義英, "justice, hero" *義秀, "justice, excellence" *義日出, "justice, ...

who clocked 15.35 seconds in 2017. On 26 April 2022, the Athletics Association of Sri Lanka named Abeykoon in the team of eight athletes for the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

and it also marks his maiden

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

appearance. On 22 May 2022, he competed in the 12th Castiglione International Meeting which was held at the Stadio Zecchini in Grosseto, Italy; he won the men's 200 meters event setting a new national record of 20.37 seconds, and broke the previous national record held by

who achieved it in 20.52 seconds in 2018. On 25 May 2022, he competed in the Anhalt 2022 International Meet which was held at the Paul-Greifzu-Stadion in

, Germany; he won the men's 100 meters setting a new national record of 10.06 seconds. In June 2022, he took part in BAUHAUS-galan as part of the

2022 Diamond League The 2022 Diamond League was the thirteenth season of the Diamond League, an annual series of outdoor track and field meetings, organised by World Athletics. The competition was a revision to the top level sport of athletics, athletics series sinc ...

, and missed the bronze medal by a whisker of 0.02 seconds in the men's 100m event. On 3 July 2022, Abeykoon became the first Sri Lankan, first South Asian sprinter, as well as the fourth Asian overall in history ever to break the 10-second barrier when he won the Resisprint International 2022 title (which was a World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger meeting) in Switzerland. His achievement also meant Sri Lanka became the 32nd country in the world to have a sub-10 second sprinter; he also became the 167th member of the sub-10 club. After becoming the first South Asian to break the 10-second barrier, Abeykoon revealed that he was inspired by Indian javelin thrower

Neeraj Chopra Neeraj Chopra (born 24 December 1997) is a track and field athlete from India. He is the reigning Olympic champion, silver medalist in the World Championship, and the Diamond League champion in Javelin throw. He is the first Asian athlete to win ...

's heroic gold medal performance at the 2020 Summer Olympics and insisted that he would follow Chopra's footstep to inspire young kids in the field of athletics. On 15 July 2022, Abeykoon qualified to represent Sri Lanka at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the men's 100m competition, and was also the only male athlete to represent Sri Lanka at the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the f ...

. It also marked his maiden appearance at the World Athletics Championships. He entered the event as the fifteenth-fastest athlete globally for the year, and as the fastest Asian. He was ranked 37th out of 56 athletes who had qualified in the world rankings (Road to World Championship List) for the 2022 World Athletics Championships, but he managed to obtain direct qualification for the competition on the back of his record-breaking performance at the Resisprint International in Switzerland. Abeykoon also became the first Sri Lankan sprinter in 13 years after

Shehan Ambepitiya Shehan Abeyptiya is a Sri Lankan male athlete who won 3 gold medals at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games. He also competed at the 2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल ख ...

to compete in the men's 100m at a World Athletics Championship. He placed fifth in the heats round in the men's 100m event with a timing of 10.19 seconds, thus failing to qualify for the semi-final. His participation along with

Gayanthika Abeyratne Gayanthika Artigala Thushari Abeyratne (born 23 December 1986) is a Sri Lankan middle-distance runner who established a national record time at 800m. Career She won a gold medal at the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and silver at the ...

and Nilani Ratnayake for the 2022 World Athletic Championship was clouded with uncertainties owing to delays in obtaining US visas in order to participate at the competition. On 3 August 2022, Abeykoon won the bronze medal in the men's 100m final at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games after finishing the race in 10.14 seconds. He also became the first Sri Lankan to win a Commonwealth Games medal in athletics since Sriyani Kulawansa and

Sugath Thilakaratne Deshabandu Robosingho Arachchilage Don Sugath Thilakaratne (born July 30, 1973 in Norton Bridge, Sri Lanka), commonly as Sugath Thilakaratne, is a Sri Lankan athlete who competed in the 400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprin ...

's medal feats at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

. He also became the first Sri Lankan to win a Commonwealth Games medal in either the men's or women's 100m events. During the heat event of the 2022 Commonwealth Games men's 100m category, he managed to set an all-time fastest-ever timing in Commonwealth Games history for the event after finishing with a timing of 10.06 seconds. The previous record in the 100m men's heats was held by Canada's

Glenroy Gilbert Glenroy John Gilbert (born August 31, 1967 in Trinidad & Tobago) is a Canadian former track and field athlete, winner of the gold medal in 4×100 metres relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics, and head coach of Athletics Canada. Biography Born in ...

, who had finished the heat with a timing of 10.10 seconds during the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

. Abeykoon's timing of 10.06 seconds in Heat 6 of the men's 100m event eventually earned him a spot in the semi-finals of the competition. He finished with a timing of 10.20 seconds in the men's 100m semi-final, which helped him secure a berth in the men's 100m final, the only Asian athlete to qualify for the final. He also became the first Sri Lankan to reach the final of the 100m event in Commonwealth Games history.

In media

A leading prominent Sri Lankan English-language newspaper edition, the Sunday Observer, was heavily criticised by several Sri Lankan politicians, including Sri Lankan sports minister Namal Rajapaksa, for insulting Abeykoon with the headline "Pathetic Yupun cuts a sorry figure," referring to his 6th-place finish in the men's 100m heat event at the 2020 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abeykoon, Yupun 1994 births Living people Sri Lankan male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Sri Lanka South Asian Games gold medalists for Sri Lanka South Asian Games medalists in athletics People from Negombo People from Western Province, Sri Lanka Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Sri Lanka Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics