Yupun Abeykoon finished the 100m race in just 9.96 seconds to breach the 10-second barrier.
Yupun Abeykoon broke the 10-second barrier at Resisprint International in Siwtzerland. Image: Twitter/@GotabayaR
Sri Lanka sprinter Yupun Abeykoon has scripted history by becoming the first South Asian athlete to run 100m in less than 10 seconds. The 27-year-old achieved the feat at Resisprint International in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Abeykoon finished the 100m race in just 9.96 seconds to breach the 10-second barrier. With the record sprint in Switzerland, the athlete from the Island national bettered his own record of 10.06 seconds which he created at the
Anhalt 2022 meet in Germany.
Abeykoon is only the 167th athlete in the world to breach the 10-second barrier in a 100m race while Sri Lanka has become the 32nd nation to boast a sub-10 sprinter.
The historic achievement from the sprinter drew praise from Sri Lanka president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and cricketer legend Sanath Jayasuriya.
According to a report in Sportstar, Abeykoon is currently training under Italian and former 400m Olympian Claudio Licciardello at the GS Fiamme Gialle Sports Centre in Italy and holds a job with the Sri Lankan Army.
Meanwhile, Cuba’s Reynier Mena completed the 200m race in 19.63 seconds as he became the first man from his nation to complete the distance in under 20 seconds.
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