(FormerSprinterandpresentlyanAthleticCoach)

SL have been in the forefront of Women’s Athletics for a long period. It was Nirmala Dissanayake who first won an international medal for SL in Women’s Track & Field, when she won Bronze in the 200 metres, at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia. This journey we started from this historic Bronze medal, went a long way and eventually ended with Susanthika Jayasinghe winning Silver at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. However, I think, the most successful event for Athletics was the 1991 SAG held in Colombo. SL created history by winning 15 Gold medals and were overall champions in Athletics, ahead of India who secured only 14 Gold medals. I think the National Schools Games (NSG) concept initiated in 1984, had a lot to do with the success of our Athletics Team at this meet. It was during this period that top athletes in the calibre of Damayanthi Dharsha, Sriyani Kulawansa, Jayamini Illepperuma, Susanthika Jayasinghe, Ineka Cooray and several other athletes came into the limelight. This was followed by the Olympic Medal concept initiated by former Sports Minister S.B. Dissanayake in 1994. The Olympic Concept produced great results for the country, as the Athletes were well looked after on and off the field. The result was that, Dharsha, Sriyani, Susanthika, the 4x100 metres and the 4x400 metres relay teams were able to win medals at the SAG up to the Olympic Games. In addition, they were also able to set up new Asian records for the country. Their performances turned out to be a major threat to the South Asian and Asian region as well. The secret behind their success was that, they were provided with good nourishment and other facilities but more importantly, they had set targets to win medals at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and Olympic Games. Also, the Athletes were held in high esteem by the government as well as by the private sector. However, since 2000, SL has not won a medal except for at the SAG and Asian Championships. The main reason for this is because the entire Athletic system in the country has collapsed, from school level up to national level. for want of a proper National Sports Plan for the country. The authorities are now more concerned about the immediate events to be worked off. We have many unqualified coaches in the country, who are misleading the Athletes, while Athletes are provided with low quality vitamins. This has been the main reason for the decline of Athletics, both Men and Women, in the country in. My 100m and 200m SL records stood for 20 years. I reached the top not by taking vitamins, but by consuming quality food such as green gram, gram, dry fish and eggs. Today, I see there are too many Coaches, Athletes and competitions ruining the careers of some of our promising Athletes. As there is a competition among the Athletes, the unqualified Coaches who are desperate to see their prodigies win at these meets, have now decided to get coaching tips by browsing the internet. The outcome of this is that, the Athletes are being over-trained and then become injury prone within a short period. Injuries happen when Coaches try to train the athletes in an unprofessional manner. Today, Sports administration is only concerned about winning medals. But have not provided any facilities to the Athletes, and do not have a target to develop the sport. India and Thailand have made vast strides in Athletics, because they have a strong provincial level. We could achieve similar results, if the Education Ministry, Sports Ministry and the Provincial Council join hands towards a common goal.