The 2022 World Weightlifting Championship organized by the International Weightlifting Federation is scheduled to be held in December. This tournament, which will be held in Colombia from the 5th to the 16th of December, is considered as the first tournament to qualify for the next Olympic Games.

It is reported that a team of three sportsmen and two women is going to join for that. Weightlifter Indika Dissanayake is the captain of this Sri Lankan team and in this tournament he will compete in the 73 kg weight category. Chaturanga Lakmal 61kg  weight class and Dilanka Isuru Kumar 55 kg weight class will compete there.

And Hansini Gomes and Srimali Samarakoon from the 49 weight category will also represent Sri Lanka in this tournament.

Commenting on the Sri Lankan team's preparation for this tournament, the captain of the team, Indika Dissanayake, expressed the following opinion. 'Dilanka Isuru Kumara has a great chance to reach the medals by showing high performance under the clean and jerk  in this tournament. Also, if he is able to reach his usual performances, Dilanka has the potential to reach the top of the world rankings.  Also, there is a possibility of qualifying for the Asian Games and the Asian Weightlifting Championship held in 2023, based on their performance in the World Championship. Therefore, it is our hope to bring glory to Sri Lanka by performing as a team. Also, if Dilanka Isuru Kumar can reach his usual performance, he will be able to reach the top 10 in the world rankings. Also, we hope that Chaturanga Lakmal will also come forward in the Olympic rankings. We think that both Hansini Gomes and Shramali Samarakoon will perform at their best in their respective weight classes.'

And Indika Dissanayake, who spoke about her personal goals in this tournament, said, 'My main goal is to reach the top of the world rankings in the World Championship Weightlifting Tournament. In order to qualify for the Olympic Games, they have to face 3 tournaments and this is the first challenge. Therefore, I hope to reach the maximum performance in it.'

Meanwhile, the 2022 National Weightlifting Championship is scheduled to be held from the 10th to the 13th of this month at the Polonnaruwa Gallalella Sports Complex. Competitions are scheduled to be held under the categories of youth, junior and senior.