Dinesh Priyantha


Herath Mudiyansalage Dinesh Priyantha also simply known as Dinesh Priyantha is a Paralympic track and field athlete from Sri Lanka competing in T46 sprint events.

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. He was the first Sri Lankan paralympian to win a paralympic medal in the javelin event.
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 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. He also claimed silver medal in men's 46 category at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships.

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.
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,”.