Watch: Future Tulane Runner Participates in Olympic Opening Ceremonies
Tharushi Karunarathna is a name Tulane track and field fans barely know. She hasn’t even started school yet. But during the Paris Olympics she’ll be front and center.
Karunarathna, who is from Sri Lanka, is one two athletes from the country that is participating in this Olympics.
The future Green Wave track star was among the thousands of athletes that got to participate in Friday’s opening ceremonies.
Unlike previous Olympics, which featured athletes walking into the main stadium, Paris opted to have its athletes make their entrance on the Seine, the river that bisects the city. Each country had its own boat, or in some cases shared a boat with athletes from another country.
Sri Lanka had to share. But Karunarathna got to make her first Olympic entrance on international television.
There she is! 🇱🇰
— Tulane XC & TF (@GreenWaveXCTF) July 26, 2024
Incoming Freshman Tharushi Karunaratha representing Sri Lanka in Paris!
Cheering on our Olympian all the way from The Big Easy! #RollWave🌊 | #OpeningCeremony | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/aYluvsNvDN
Karunarathna doesn’t have an event to worry about for a few days, so she was able to participate. Some athletes had to skip the opening ceremonies due to competition. Some, like the Olympic surfers, weren’t even in Paris. They’re competing in Tahiti.
Karunarathna will represent Sri Lanka in the women's 800 meters, with the first round taking place on Aug. 2. The semifinals will be held Aug. 4 followed by the finals on August 5.
She has a career low time of 2:00.60, which makes her the fastest incoming running into the NCAA.
In the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou she won a gold medal in the 800 meters and a bronze medal in the 4-x-400-meter relay. In the 2023 Asian Championships, she won a gold in the 800 meters, along with silver medals in the 4-x-400-meter relay and the 4-x-400 meter mixed relay.
In the 2022 Asian Games she was the first Sri Lankan since Susanthika Jayasinghe and Damayanthi Dharsha to win an Asian Games gold medal.
Two other people with Tulane ties will compete at the Olympics. Women’s assistant basketball coach Rene Wakama will serve as the head coach for the Nigerian National Women's Team in Pool B. Their games will start on Monday.
Thad Lettsome was one of two athletes who served as the flag bearers for the British Virgin Islands in the opening ceremony. The former Tulane star will compete in sailing in the men's one person dinghy (ILCA 7) laser.
