Sri Lankan Olympic team leaves for Beijing

Sri Lanka's competitors in the Beijing Olympic Games left here Monday morning for Beijing, officials said.

The Sri Lankan contingent, headed by the woman sprinter Susanthika Jayasinghe, comprises of eight players and six officials

Jayasinghe, a bronze medallist in the 200 meters women sprint event in the Sydney Games in 2000, was to fly directly to Beijing from the United States, where she was on a one-year training program.

Track and field, badminton, boxing, rifle shooting, javelin, swimming and weight lifting are major events that Sri Lanka will be taking part in in Beijing, local National Olympic Committee officials said.

Captain Jayasinghe and the javelin thrower Nadeeka Lakmali werethe only ones to qualify for the Games with others making their entries through the wild card system allowed for developing sporting nations, local officials said.