Confident Ransilu aiming to lift Sri Lanka powerlifting to a different level
Powerlifting champion Ransilu Jayathilake urges the public to support the team as they embark on a journey to qualify for the Powerlifting World Championship that is scheduled to commence in Sweden this year.
The Qualifying Event for the World Championship will be held in Gold Coast, Australia from March 11 to 18. The team includes 11 athletes and they will be led by Jayathilake. The team left the island on March 9.
After being successful in the Asian Championship in Mongolia last year where they had won 44 medals, Jayathilake was confident that his team will be able to qualify for the main event.
"We trained a lot leading up to the World Championship. In 2018, I had a serious injury, so I lost the opportunity to win the gold medal and instead I was able to win the silver medal. From the day we came back from Mongolia we conducted a number of training camps and I am confident of winning gold medals and also breaking the Asian record this time around," a confident Jayathilake told the Sunday Times before leaving to Australia.
Representing 23 countries, a total of 600 athletes will be competing at the competition.
According to Jayathilake the countries from the Pacific region (New Zealand and Tonga) will be difficult to beat, but he expects his team to push forward and some- how record wins against them.
He didn’t forget to express his thoughts regarding the memorable campaign in Mongolia.
"We had 16 athletes back then and 12 of them won medals. We were able to win 44 medals and we have fond memories of that," he recalled.
Furthermore, Jayathilake and his team are aiming for the overall championship, which Sri Lanka has never achieved in their history.
Despite the commitment, tireless efforts and victories, the local powerlifters have become a forgotten lot to the governing body of the sport. Jayathilake took aim at the Sri Lanka Powerlifting Federation and went on to say that the governing body has done nothing significant to improve the sport.
"As you know powerlifting is not a popular sport in the country. So it is difficult to find sponsors. I have been in this sport for nearly 20 years now, so I have always found sponsors, but for youngsters who are new to the sport, have to face difficulties. Honestly I need to thank the Sports Minister Harin Fernando, he helped us in getting our air tickets while the federation did nothing to help its athletes or the sport to prosper. We have a lot of young boys and girls taking up the sport. The way the sport has been handled by our federation is appalling. We need to change or else our future will be bleak," warned Jayathilake.