Background
Retchakan was born in Paddington, London, England to Sri Lankan parents.
Retchakan was born in Paddington, London, England to Sri Lankan parents.
In 1982, representing Sri Lanka, she finished sixth in the 100 metres hurdles at the Asian Games. In 1989, she finished third at the AAAs Championships in 57.17, and went on to be the United Kingdom"s long standing second ranked 400 m hurdler to Sally Gunnell.
She was ranked in the world"s top ten at 400 metres hurdles in both 1991 and 1992. She emerged as one of the United Kingdom"s leading 400 m hurdlers in the late 1980s. In 1991, Retchakan retained her AAAs title in 56.67.
At the World Championships in Tokyo. she ran below 55 seconds for the first time, with 54.88 in the semi-finals, narrowly missing the final.
The time ranked her tenth fastest in the world for 1991. At the Barcelona Olympics, she ran her lifetime best of 54.63 in the semi-finals, to again narrowly miss the final.
She was unfortunate to miss out, as she was the seventh fastest athlete overall from the two semis. A month after the Olympics, she was selected to represent Europe at the IAAF World Cup in Havana.
She ran 55.66, to finish second behind Sandra Farmer-Patrick and ahead of Margarita Ponomaryova.
She was the ninth fastest in the world for 1992. Retchakan retained the United Kingdom 400 m hurdles title in 1993, running 56.62 and reached the semi-finals of the World Championships in Stuttgart, running 55.96. At the Europeans in Helsinki, she finished eighth in 56.05.
However, she declined selection for the World Championships.
At the 1996 British Olympic Trials, she was sixth, failing to earn Olympic selection. She finished behind Andrea Blackett in 55.25, her fastest time for six years.
As of 2016, Retchakan"s best of 54.63, ranks her sixth on the United Kingdom all-time list. She also holds the United Kingdom masters records in the W35 and W40 categories.
Her 55.25 in 1998, was the second fastest time ever by a veteran woman, age 35+, after Marina Stepanova.
In 2000, she broke the world age 40+ record with 58.3. 5 AAAs Championship 400 metres hurdles titles (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995).
She was a member of Thurrock Harriers.