Dinesh Priyantha

Herath Mudiyansalage Dinesh Priyantha also simply known as Dinesh Priyantha (born 15 July 1986) is a Paralympic track and field athlete from Sri Lanka competing in T46 sprint events.[1]

Dinesh Priyantha Herath
Personal information
Born (1986-07-15) 15 July 1986
Sport
CountrySri Lanka
SportParalympic athletics
Disability classT46
Achievements and titles
Paralympic finals2016 Rio de Janeiro
Medal record
Men's paralympic athletics
Representing  Sri Lanka
Paralympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro Javelin throw
Asian Para Games
2018 JakartaJavelin throw
IPC World Championships
2017 London Javelin throw
2019 Dubai Javelin throw

Career

He represented Sri Lanka at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and won a bronze medal, which was the second ever Paralympic medal for Sri Lanka after Pradeep Sanjaya who won a bronze medal in the 2012 Paralympic Games.[2] He was the first Sri Lankan paralympian to win a paralympic medal in the javelin event.[3][4]

He was also awarded the ‘Best Para Sportsman of the Year’ at the 2016 Platinum awards, conducted by Newsfirst.

In the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships he won a silver medal in the javelin event [5] He was appointed as the captain as well as the flag bearer for Sri Lanka at the 2018 Asian Para Games. During the course of event, he set a new Asian Para Games record in javelin throw of 61.84m to secure gold medal in the men's F46 javelin throw event.[6] He also claimed silver medal in men's 46 category at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships.[7]

Personal History

Herath served in the Sri Lankan Army Personnel, as a Corporal in the 3rd Gajaba Regiment. Herath was wounded in Kilinochchi during the final stages of the humanitarian operations on 16 December 2008 and retired from the Army on medical grounds. He went onto represent the country in sports.[8]

He was also felicitated and rewarded for creating history in the Paralympics event. After winning the Paralympic medal he quoted, having said that it was the Army officers who motivated him to continue the sports after he abandoned it. “I worked hard during the last six months and I saw my family members only four days during the past six months. After the battle injury, it was the Army officers who dragged me for training,”.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Dubai 2019 - Dinesh Priyantha". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  2. "Sri Lanka's Dinesh Priyantha Herath Wins Bronze Medal At 2016 Paralympics [VIDEO]". Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  3. "Rio Paralympics: SL's Dinesh Herath wins bronze". Hiru News. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  4. "Sri Lanka's Herath clinches bronze at Rio Paralympics". Lanka Business Online. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  5. "Javelin thrower Dinesh Priyantha Herath bags Silver". The Sunday Times Sri Lanka. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  6. "Dinesh Priyantha wins Gold with a new Asian record". ThePapare.com. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
  7. "Dubai 2019 - Schedule & Results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
  8. "Javelin Throwing Dinesh Priyantha Wins a Bronze Medal for Sri Lanka in Paralympics - 2016 | Sri Lanka Army". www.army.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
  9. "Bronze Medalist in Paralympics Felicitated & Rewarded by Prime Minister | Sri Lanka Army". www.army.lk. Retrieved 2017-03-14.
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