Yupun Abeykoon, South Asia’s fastest man, is putting Sri Lanka on the athletics map

While Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to win the Diamond League trophy last week to cap a remarkable 2022, another South Asian athlete also celebrated a historic season: Sri Lanka’s Yupun Abeykoon.

Over the last seven years, Yupun has become one of Asia’s fastest men. In June, he became the first South Asian to run a 100m race under 10 seconds. In July, he won a historic bronze at the Commonwealth Games – Sri Lankan athletics’ first medal in 24 years. In September, he became the first Sri Lankan to compete in the Diamond League final, finishing fifth.

1dShyam Vasudevan

1y

1 Related

Right from his childhood, Yupun wanted to be an athlete. His parents questioned the future potential of this field (it wasn’t even cricket!), but he refused to budge. He said he could work till 70 and make money, but would not be able to sprint at the world level after he turned 30. So, an athlete he became. He tried high jumping, long jumping and triple jumping (which he loved), before turning to sprinting. He realised how good he was at 100m when the results started flowing in: a 10.78s at the School Games and a10.58s at the Army Championships (good for bronze) in 2015.

That year, aged 20, he took a massive punt – flying to Italy. It helped that his father worked in Naples, but Yupun didn’t know the language, where and how to find a coach and did not have any means of making money. Then, he met the man who would guide him to success, coach Mauricio.

“I saw an elderly gentleman training a few children in a stadium in Rome and I asked if he could help me,” Yupun told ESPN. He said no initially, but changed his mind and he has been training with him ever since. “He’s like a father to me. I can never leave him.”

Olympic 100m champion Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs (L) and Sri Lanka’s Mudiyansalage Yupun Abeykoon compete during the Men’s 100m heat at a track and field meeting in Savona, Liguria. MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images

Yupun now trains with Mauricio and former Olympian Claudio Licciardello at the GS Fiamme Gialle Sports Centre — the sporting division of the Italian police force that has produced 42 Olympic medallists. Three of the four members of the Italian 4x100m relay team that won gold at the Tokyo Olympics train alongside Yupun. He was roommates with the shock men’s 100m Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs.

The Olympic year had started well for him too, the first South Asian to qualify for the men’s 100m at the Games in 32 years. He set a new South Asian record with a 10.09 seconds months before but he admits pressure got to him. He lost in the heats with a time of 10.32s; he’d run slower than that only once over the last two years.

“I was so nervous, it was the biggest stage of my career. People usually go step by step… I started with Olympics.It was a lifetime achievement for me because every athlete wants to run at the Olympics, but it was a poor campaign.”

Yupun’s career, though, has been on an upswing since then. He began this season with a 10.04s, a 10.06s, and then a 10.08s in May.

In June, Yupun he ran 9.96s – fastest time ever recorded by a South Asian, the fourth-fastest by an Asian. “Only 32 countries in the world have produced athletes who can run sub-10. There are only 170 athletes all-time in history and I’m the 167th to get there,” he says.

Yupun Abeykoon of Sri Lanka runs in the men’s 100m at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

“People found it incredible that I am from South Asia because they think only Africans, Americans and Europeans can do it but I have proved that we are also strong.”

He praises the efforts of athletes’ from neighbouring nation, India, in this endeavour — especially Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra. “I follow him on Instagram, I’m not sure if he follows me back (laughs). We met in Stockholm for the first time and then we met again at the World Championships. He’s the best product in South Asia, one of the best products of all time.”

An icon himself, with cricket legend Lasith Malinga one of his biggest fans, Yupun now sees it as his duty to give Sri Lankans some cheer amidst the crisis of government collapse and a spiraling economy.

He had gone home last year to celebrate his birthday (31 December) – his first with family since he moved to Italy. However, he’s not sure if he can go back this year. “As an athlete, it is very important for us to control our emotions and feelings. Especially because one incident can ruin a race and all the hard work you’ve put in over the years.”

But he continues to run for Sri Lanka. “They need hope and I aim to provide that. It felt great that when I did well, the credit not only came to me but it also went to my country.”