The Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee has distributed funding ©Getty Images

The Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee has distributed Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) funding to National Federations and athletes.

ANOC directed funding through the Olympic Council of Asia to the NOCs who were facing the biggest challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In turn, the Sri Lanka NOC assisted 15 National Federations using the funds. 

Federations for equestrian, gymnastics, handball, judo, karate, roller skating, surfing, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon, wrestling, yachting, and baseball all received laptops. 

The Sri Lanka Weightlifting Federation was given a washing machine for the use of national athletes and the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation received assistance for their administration expenses. 

Badminton player Niluka Karunaratne was among the athletes to receive financial assistance ©Getty Images
Badminton player Niluka Karunaratne was among the athletes to receive financial assistance ©Getty Images

Additional funding was also requested and granted for a number of athletes to aid their preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

This included the training costs of judoka Chamara Dharmawardhana, wrestler Chamara Milinda and 800 metre runner W.K.L. Nimal. 

Javelin thrower Sumedha Ranasinghe and weightlifter Indika Dissanayake also received funding to train overseas, while badminton player Niluka Karunaratne was another to be granted financial assistance. 

Tokyo 2020, scheduled for July 23 to August 8, will be the 18th time Sri Lanka features at an Olympic Games.

The country has earned two silver medals, the most recent coming when Susanthika Jayasinghe finished second in the women's 200m at Sydney 2000.