Gymnast Gimhani touted as next medal hope
20 budding athletes to get financial support from NOCSL-Crysbro Next Champ scholarship
Gymnast Milka Gimhani training in Japan on an International Olympic Committee (IOC)-funded Solidarity programme is projected as the next best hope for an international medal by a leading official of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL).
“Gimhani will be a medal prospect for 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. I am very confident of a medal for gymnastics,” declared NOCSL secretary general Maxwell de Silva at the launch of the ‘NOCSL-Crysbro Next Champ’ scholarship programme on Thursday. She is also close to qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics next year.
Gimhani was among five athletes selected for this scholarship initially where Crysbro will sponsor them for the next two years providing Rs 1 million each year. The scholarship will cover costs such as nutrition, transportation, coaching fees, accommodation, logistics such as clothing, sports gear and medical expenses etc. The objective of this partnership is to uplift talented young Sri Lankan athletes to the international sports arena. Under the agreement Crysbro will sponsor 20 deserving athletes scouted by the NOCSL and help mould them to qualify for the 2022 Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and 2021 South Asian Games. NOCSL-Crysbro selection committee is headed by Olympic silver medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe.
“We have selected five budding athletes and the remaining five we will select towards the end of the month to make it a total of 10. The remaining 10 slots we have left open to motivate athletes to perform well in the competitions held over the next three months. We will select them on their performances at these contests,” said NOCSL-Crysbro selection committee member Shehan Ambepitiya, a former Sri Lanka sprinter who won three gold medals at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games.
Apart from Gimhani, the other four are athletes D.M.T.D. Karunaratne (400m and 800m), H.H.R. Sithum Jayasundara (200m and 400m), weightlifters W.D.K. Kumara and R.L.S.R. Laksarani. Sithum Jayasundara has been identified as the next Usain Bolt, according to Ambepitiya. He has won medals in the 100, 200 and 400 at the National School Games. Tharusha Dilsara Karunaratne has done a 800m in 2:14 minutes.
“These children are already champions. The best sports people in Sri Lanka. Number one in each event or sport. First of all we want to give prominence to them. In Sri Lanka people don’t know who is the best football player, tennis or swimmer. Cricketers we might know because of publicity they are getting. This is the same thing we want to do for other sports. First step is not to bring an Olympic medal or an international medal but these are potential athletes. Medal will happen in another four or five years but the start is to give them prominence. They should be encouraged. They will be on hoardings so that other younger athletes will see them and get inspired,” said former Sri Lanka 100m record holder Ineka Cooray, a member of the national selection committee in athletics.
“We launched Next Champ in 2018. We had a simple objective we wanted to identify talented athletes mainly giving priority to the rural sector because they deserve it. We wanted to showcase them and bring them into the limelight and give them an opportunity to shine and become the next champ,” said Amoris Sellar Crysbro Senior Marketing Manager.