Gampaha and Kandy districts shared the overall championship at Sri Lanka’s 36th National Youth Sports Festival after finishing level on 130 points, with competitors establishing 30 new swimming and athletics records.
The festival took place from October 30 to November 1 at Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Diyagama.
Galle District finished third with 106 points.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports organised the competition together with the National Youth Services Council and the Sri Lanka Federation of Youth Clubs.
Final overall standings
Gampaha: 130 points
Kandy: 130 points
Galle: 106 points
Thirty records established
Organisers reported 21 new swimming records and nine athletics records during the three-day competition.
Swimming accounted for 70% of the 30 records announced.
That percentage is calculated from the government’s published totals.
The announcement does not provide a complete event-by-event record list or distinguish national records from festival records.
The 30-record figure should therefore be understood as the total reported by the organisers for the competition.
Chathuranga records 50.06 seconds in hurdles
Kegalle athlete M.D. Chathuranga received the Best Male Athlete award.
He established a new competition record in the men’s 400-metre hurdles with a time of 50.06 seconds.
Gampaha’s A.W.G.J.S. Wijethunga was named Best Female Athlete.
Both athletes received cash awards of Rs. 1 million.
The government announcement does not provide the complete results of their other events.
Joint champions receive equal prize money
Gampaha and Kandy each received Rs. 200,000 for sharing the overall championship.
Galle received Rs. 100,000 for finishing third.
The two individual athlete awards were substantially larger than the district championship prizes.
Each Best Athlete award of Rs. 1 million was five times the Rs. 200,000 awarded to each joint champion district.
The comparison concerns the announced cash prizes and does not include any additional assistance or benefits provided to competitors.
Festival concludes in Diyagama
The closing ceremony was attended by Health and Mass Media Minister Nalinda Jayatissa and Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage.
The competition brought together athletes representing districts across Sri Lanka.
The government’s November 2 report confirms the overall championship standings and leading individual awards.
A full breakdown of medals and records by district was not included in that announcement.
