Milka Gehani

Milka Gehani de Silva (born 24 April 2003)

Career Junior Milka made her international debut at the 2016 Junior Commonwealth Championships in Namibia, qualifying for every individual final. She finished tenth in the all-around final, sixth on the vault, sixth on the uneven bars, fifth on the balance beam, and sixth on floor exercise, also contributing to the Sri Lankan team's fourth-place finish.

In May 2017, Milka competed at the Asian Junior Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, placing eighth with the Sri Lankan team and 17th in the all-around. She improved that result at the 2018 Asian Junior Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, finishing 14th all-around. She represented Sri Lanka at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she placed 28th all-around in qualifications but did not make the finals. In the mixed multi-discipline team event, her team finished ninth.

Senior Milka became age-eligible for senior competition in 2019. She began training in Japan in 2019 after receiving a scholarship from the International Olympic Committee. In September 2020, she competed at the All-Japan Senior Championships in Takasaki, placing 40th in the all-around.

In May 2021, she was awarded one of the two available Asian continental berths to the 2020 Summer Olympics due to the cancellation of the 2021 Asian Championships, as she was the highest ranked eligible athlete based on the results of the 2019 World Championships. This marked Sri Lanka's debut in gymnastics at the Olympic Games. She also became the second Sri Lankan athlete to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after Mathilda Karlsson. In July, it was announced that Milka would be Sri Lanka's flag bearer at the 2020 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations alongside judoka Chamara Dharmawardana, becoming the country's youngest ever flag bearer. At the Olympic Games, Milka placed 78th in the all-around during qualifications, and did not advance to the final. She received an extension to her scholarship to continue her training in Japan for another two years after the Olympics.

After the Olympic Games, Milka competed at the 2021 All-Japan Senior Championships, finishing seventh in the all-around. Then she competed at the All-Japan Team Championships, finishing ninth in the all-around and helping her club finish seventh. At the 2022 All-Japan Championships, she finished 73rd in the all-around qualification round. Then at the 2022 Asian Championships, she finished eleventh in the all-around and qualified for the World Championships. She withdrew from the all-around final at the Commonwealth Games due to an injury. Then at the World Championships, she withdrew after injuring her right foot on the floor exercise.

Milka finished ninth in the all-around at the 2023 Asian Championships and qualified for the 2023 World Championships. She also qualified for the uneven bars event final where she finished sixth.

Competitive history

YearEventTeamAAVTUBBBFX Junior 2016 Junior Commonwealth Championships 4 10 6 6 5 6 2017 Asian Junior Championships 8 17 2018 Asian Junior Championships 10 14 Youth Olympic Games 9 28 Senior 2019 World Championships 114 2020 All-Japan Senior Championships 40 2021 Olympic Games 78 All-Japan Senior Championships 7 All-Japan Team Championships 7 9 2022All-Japan Championships 73 Asian Championships 11 Commonwealth Games 8 World Championships 2023 Asian Championships 9 6