Olympian Wimalasena Perera wants to form National Marathon Pool
Olympian Wimalasena Perera said it is not impossible to win medals at international level in the marathon event if a separate National Pool for marathon athletes is formed and a long-term training programme is conducted.
The marathon pool should comprise five or 10 athletes who should be given high altitude training in Diyatalawa or Nuwara Eliya with all facilities provided and get the expertise and assistance of experienced marathoners such as S. L. B. Rosa and V. K. L. Samarasinghe among others.
Having experience as an athletics coach of the Sri Lanka Army Engineering Regiment from 1982 to 1986, Perera is willing to take up the challenge of producing results by coaching the proposed National Marathon Pool.
Only the second marathon runner to represent Sri Lanka at the Olympics at the Mexico Games in 1968, Perera also competed at the 1966 Kingston Commonwealth Games and at the Bangkok Asian Games the same year.
At the Mexico Olympics, he was placed 51st out of athletes from among 80 countries clocking a time of two hours and 59 minutes while at the Kingston Commonwealth Games he was forced to pull out because of an injury. However, at the Bangkok Asian Games he clinched the seventh place clocking a time of 2 hours and 58 minutes.
“We have a long history in marathon but it is sad to observe there has been a decline in standards in the recent past. We have not been able to win the Gold Medal in the Men’s marathon at the SAG for a long time. We can be glad that Hiruni Wijayaratne won the Women’s marathon at the Kathmandu SAG.”
“Marathon is one of the sports we can excel at international level. However, because we don’t have a long-term training programme and plan, we have not been able to achieve the desired results in marathon,” he said.
Perera, 75, retired from the Army after serving as an officer for 22 years from 1964 to 1986.
Marathon is one of the sports we can excel at international level. However, because we don’t have a long-term training programme and plan, we have not been able to achieve the desired results in marathon