Hurina Kesara Wijayaratne, centre, was one of five Sri Lankan gold medallists on the final day of athletics in Kathmandu ©SAG2019

Sri Lanka secured five gold medals as the South Asian Games' athletics programme concluded in Kathmandu.

The medal bonanza means Sri Lanka top the athletics medal table for the first time in 28 years with a staggering 15 golds.

Hurina Kesara Wijayaratne clocked 2hrs 41min 24sec as she claimed marathon gold in Nepal's capital city, with Pusha Bhandari from Nepal and Jyoti Gawate from India rounding out the podium.

Bhandari was almost nine minutes behind in second in 2:50.11, with Gawante third in 2:52.44.

There were a pair of 800 metre golds for Sri Lanka, as Indunil Madusha and Dilshi Maheesha won the men's and women's races, respectively.

Madusha rounded the 800m in 1min 50.52sec to fend off the attacks from Mohammed Afsal of India and Som Bahadar Kumar from Nepal.

Afsal took second in 1:51.25, bronze went to Kumar in 1:51.44. 

In the women's race, Maheesha won in 2:06.18, while compatriot Gunathil Aka Thu finished in 2:08.52 for silver.

Third spot went to Indian Lily Das, who clocked 2:08.97 to take the final spot on the medal rostrum.

The men's 4x400m relay was also dominated by Sri Lanka, who edged out India in a gripping finale by just 0.17sec.

The quartet of Aruna Dharshana, Senira Dulaksha, Rajitha Neranja and Lakmal Priyanth took the top step on the podium in 3:08.04, as their Indian rivals were forced into silver in 3:08.21.

An almost blanket finish saw Jeevan Karekopp, Santhosh Kumar, Angrej Singh, and Jabir Madari Pa hold off Pakistan's Umar Sadat, Mehboob Ali, Abdul Mueed and Nokar Hussain for second place.

Pakistan clocked 3:08.24 for bronze.

A fifth gold of the day came in the women's javelin, with Nadeesha Dilhan exceeding 55m to earn a stunning title.

Dilhan's throw of 55.02m saw her jump above compatriot Nadeeka Lakmali, who clinched second with a 54.41m effort.

Kumari Sharmila from India collected bronze with a 53.64m throw.

Elsewhere today, India booked their place in the final of the men's kabaddi event with a 44-19 victory against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are all still in the running to meet India in the final, with the final group games to determine the second finalist.