Anuradha Indrajith Cooray (born March 24, 1978) is a Sri Lankan marathon runner. Cooray was a competitor at the 2004

Olympic games 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 multi ...

, finishing 30th out of 113 in the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

with a time of 2:19:24. He won the gold medal in the marathon at the SAF games in

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

in 2004. He had previously been a 5000 and 10000 m runner. Cooray is Sri Lanka's national record holder in the men's marathon and 10,000 metres and brings back memories of K.A. Karunaratne. Cooray started his running career as a 5000m runner at Divulapitiya Central College. He joined the Sri Lankan army in 1999, coming under the brigadier Perry Liyanage. Cooray reached his peak at the 2004 South Asian Games in Islamabad, April 2004, where he clocked two hours, 16 minutes, 36 seconds to secure the gold medal. Cooray's main aim was to compete in the Athens Olympics with a personal best. However he finished eight minutes and 29 seconds behind the gold medalist

Stefano Baldini Stefano Baldini (born 25 May 1971 in Castelnovo di Sotto, Emilia-Romagna, Italy) is a retired Italian runner who specialized in the marathon. He was the Olympic champion in Athens and was twice European champion (1998 and 2006). Biography Baldin ...

(2:10:55). Anuradha is currently living in Buckinghamshire, running again and competing for the Vale of Aylesbury Athletic Club. He represented Sri Lanka at the London 2012 Olympics in the marathon in 55th place. He also competed in the Rio 2016 Olympics in the marathon finishing in a time of 2:17:06 in 34th place. At the time of the London Olympics, he worked at

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in Aylesbury.

Career Best Records

* Men's marathon in 2 hours, 13 minutes, 47 seconds (National Record) * Men's Half-Marathon 1 hour, 4 minutes, 45 seconds (National Record) * Men's 10,000m in 29 minutes, 32 seconds

London Marathon

* 2015 - Cooray produced the performance of his life in this year's event to finish 14th in what was not only a new personal best by just over two minutes, but also a new national record with a time of 2 hours 13 minutes 47 seconds, breaking the previous record of 2 hours 14 minutes 31 seconds set by Lucien Rosa in the 1975 Fukuoka Marathon. * 2013 - Cooray was able to complete the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

2013 taking the 14th place in 2 hours 17 minutes and 53 seconds. The event was contested by 35,000 participants. Considering his last year's performance this is an advancement for him considering the position he finished and an indication of Cooray is still very much in the rhythm. * 2012 - On the 32nd event of

, Cooray managed to complete in 23rd place out of 37,500 participants with a timing of 2 hours 17 minutes and 50 seconds.

Asian Championships

* Fifth in men's 10,000m in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2000 * Fourth in men's 10,000m in Colombo,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

in 2002 * Second in men's 10,000m in Kathmandu, Nepal in 1999 * First in men's marathon in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2004

Open Meets

* Won the Singapore International Open in - 2001, 2002 and 2003

References

External links

* *
voaacSingapore Marathon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooray, Anuradha Indrajith 1978 births Living people People from Gampaha District Sri Lankan male marathon runners Sri Lankan male long-distance runners Olympic athletes for Sri Lanka Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Asian Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Sri Lanka Asian Games competitors for Sri Lanka 20th-century Sri Lankan people 21st-century Sri Lankan people Sportspeople from Western Province, Sri Lanka